Harvest Moon: Boy Meets Girl
by FantasyNerd86
Summary: Jack returns to Mineral Village for the first time to find that he has inherited a trashed farm from his dead grandfather he never remembers. Now it's up to him to clean the place up and try and figure out just what the heck happened to his memories of ever being there, all while hilarious hijinks ensue.
1. Y1Sp1 New Arrival

**Year 1: 1st of Spring**

New Arrival

I walked onto a dreary wasteland, kicking up dirt behind me. The land that lay in front of me was littered with rocks and boulders, sticks and stumps, weeds and rodents. The wildlife that populated this inhabitable piece of land scattered at the noises we were making. It seemed like no one had set food here for many many years.

"Well, what do you think?" piped up dumpy Mayor Thomas right behind me. "This _was_ your grandpa's farm. It's been neglected for quite some time, so it's a bit of a mess…"

_Neglected?_ I could think of a dozen words off the top of my head that would have more accurately described what I was looking at. If three tornados hit this place simultaneously during a nuclear apocalypse, I wouldn't have been any wiser. This place was a dump unfit for anyone to live on. Even the living dead would find this place appalling. I was surprised that any life at all could be found growing here.

The house, chicken coop, barn, and stable, were all in disrepair. The house itself wasn't even a house at all, but in fact a dumpy shack. It looked like it was about to fall in upon itself at any given moment. I could fart and blow the door off its hinges. The fish pond was full of stagnant water _so_ thick with algae it could drown a fish.

The only good thing about this place was the apple tree. Despite the ravages of time, it didn't look half bad. In fact, it looked quite healthy, probably from feasting off of all the carcasses this land has claimed.

I guess this place _could_ be better. There would have to be a lot of work done though. A _lot_ of work…

Something didn't add up though. How did this place become so desolate? Why didn't anyone bother taking care of this place in-between when my grandfather died and now? If this was once his farm, where did all these boulders and stumps come from? Was he growing trees here? Did the boulders roll down from the mountain? Or were they strategically placed here to teach me the meaning of hard work and help me gain some skill points in farming?

Or was this all just a cruel prank from the Goddess herself to piss me off?

I had so many questions and so little answers. Wait… correct that. I had _no_ answers and too many questions. They weren't even the really important ones either. _Those_ I tried to keep in the back of my mind. If I dwelt too much on those, I might not even be here right now. My temper would _definitely_ get the better of me and then I really wouldn't get any answers I wanted. No, thinking about those big questions wouldn't get me anywhere. I just hoped there was someone who could answer them.

"Do you remember when you were young and spent summer vacation on this farm?" the mayor suddenly asked out of nowhere, interrupting my reverie.

I sighed. "I already told you Mayor Thomas, I don't remember anything. I've never been here before. I've never seen this place. My dad has never mentioned my grandpa. I'm sorry. I think you've got the wrong guy. I've certainly never –" My vision was going blurry. "… been here –" My head started to spin. "… before?"

Before I knew what was happening, I felt like I was falling down a deep dark chasm.

"_Ugh… Where am I" _I moaned. _"Where is this place? It's all black and voidy. Am I… am I in hell?"_

"_I'm sorry but I've had to cancel the family trip this summer,"_ a voice resonated from the darkness._ "I couldn't rearrange my work schedule… I'm sorry. I know I promised you. Please understand… I'm very busy. … I'll make up for this…"_

_ "Wait minute… That sounds like Dad," _I said to no one in particular._ "Dad? What the heck is he saying? You planned a family trip and now you're cancelling? You piece of sh—for a father!"_

My dad never responded to me though. Instead, I heard someone else.

_ "I'm very sorry, dear… But I asked Grandpa if you could stay at his farm. … Take it easy and enjoy nature for a change,"_ spoke a sweet, melodic voice.

_ "Mom?" _I cried out. I hadn't heard my mom's voice in _ages_._ "Mom! Where are you? What the heck are you doing here? MOM!"_

I heard my voice echo off in the distance, but no one replied back. I was all alone.

Then, the blackness started to ebb away, until it was completely gone. I looked around and saw that I was back on that farm, only… it wasn't a piece of junk anymore. It was actually really clean and beautiful. All the buildings were pristine. The land was well tended. There were even animals grazing in a field, animals that _weren't _vermin. Still, even though there really wasn't much to look at because it was still a stupid farm, compared to what I had seen before, this might as well be paradise.

Then, a voice caught my ear.

_"JACK! HEEL!" _shouted an old man as a dog almost barreled over a little boy.

I ran up to them and my mouth fell open. Standing in front of me were two people who looked _exactly_ like I did, only… one of them was extremely old and the other one was super young. I looked around again trying to figure out where I was. Was I in the future, or the past? I wanted to know just what the heck was going on with me!

_ "Hello there, sonny," _the old man said coming closer to the boy._ "Sorry about Ol' Jack here. He gets excited when visitors come. Thinks they're here to see him." _

The boy looked like he was going to have a heart attack as he looked from the old man to the dog and then back to the old man.

_"Well..." _the old man hesitated, taking off his cap and scratching the back of his head as if wondering what to say. _"My name is Jack..."_

"_DUDE! _MY _NAME IS JACK!" _I screamed. _"I do _not_ age well."_

"_But… I guess you already knew that," _the old man continued._ "Ahem... But you can call me Grandpa. Everyone else does. I mean... I _am_ your grandpa. Raised your dad an all._ _In fact, you were named after me!"_

"_Hey… wait a minute… I got my name from my grandpa as well! I… think…" _I said to myself. I took closer look at the boy. _"Is this… me? If it is, why the heck don't I remember this ever happening?"_

"_I see you got my good looks as well,"_ Grandpa Jack puffed his chest out in pride._ "One day boy, you're going to have the women swooning all over you. But, I guess you're too young to notice all the nice parts about a woman that make weaker, uglier men do the one hand dance. You're probably still in that phase where you think 'cooties' are a real thing. Well, let me tell ya' boy, if they are then you best get 'em. I don't want no grandson of mine prancing about like a fairy!"_

"_Oh man!" _I slapped my forehead. _"I totally get that!"_

"_Anyways, there's not much excitement out in these parts… and that's just the way I like it! Your dad thought that living here was a dead end. Too bad he turned out the way he did. What a nerd… It's a good thing he doesn't come around here anymore. I'd be too embarrassed to be seen with him. Oh! But _you're_ welcome to stay as long as you want. Anytime you want!"_

The boy Jack nodded, looking like the entirety of that conversation went over his head. He started looking around the place_._

_ "I'm too busy with my farm chores to play with you much… But there are some children in the village and you can play with them. There's Lillia's daughter down the way if you're interested. She's a farmer's daughter, if you get me,"_ Grandpa Jack winked._ "She has a brother. They're both your age. There's also the daughter of Jeff, the owner of the Market. She's really cute, but sadly she's also your age. There's Doug, the inn keeper's daughter… but she's your age. There's Basil's daughter… She's a little weird. You can have her. There's Ellen's granddaughter… but she's your age too. Heck! Why do all the good ones have to be so young?"_

My mouth dropped. _"I actually_ stayed _with this guy?"_

"_There could be plenty of stuff for you to do around here if your balls ever drop! It's a good thing I'm such a good example. That way, when the time comes, you can get any booty you want. In the meantime, there's also Saibara's grandson. That kid's probably as shy as you. Oh wait… that would never work out. Then there's that prick Kai. He's only here for the summers. Stay away from that little douchebag, ya hear?"_

The younger version of myself nodded again.

Then things started to grow weird. Though I didn't move an inch, the scenery started shifting around me. I now watched as my younger self ride a very large bovine. For an instant, that me smiled at the youthful innocence of childhood, but that instant vanished when I fell off the cow. As the little me cried on the ground the scenery changed again.

The younger me was now talking with my grandpa in front of a horse. _"Heh heh… This here's Bullseye. Terrible name, ain't it? I feel like someone's always gunnin for him. Know what I mean? Keh heh heh… Guess ya don't. Hmm… Wanna ride ol' Bullseye?" _The boy nodded and was lifted and placed on the saddle. Grandpa walked the horse around the farm. They were both laughing when the scene changed again.

This time, I was chasing one of the chickens around the farm with a stick in his hands. I could see what was going to happen before it did. Boy, was I a stupid child. The me was probably imagining something totally different was going to happen than from what was actually going on. That wasn't made known to the chicken though. The boy cornered it in the barn. A moment later, he made a hasty retreat as a dozen chickens chased him out. The scene changed again.

Now the boy was fishing off the pier, the same one I had set foot upon earlier today. It was a beautiful day outside. The sun was bright. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. A soft wind was blowing. After a few moments, I cried out in surprise as my line went taunt. I reeled and pulled with all my might, but the fish was mightier. The fishing pole went flying out of the younger me's hands into the water. The scene changed as the boy walked off whistling, pretending that he didn't know what happened.

I found my younger self at the bridge south of the farm, feeding the dog. That was it. Then the scene changed.

The next thing that I saw was the mini me walking along a path. The path steadily rose. I was looking fatigued. Still, the I kept walking. Eventually he came to a bridge that crossed a lake. He didn't stop, but kept going. The path continued through a crevasse until it opened up into a huge field. There were dozens of flowers in it and tons of trees surrounding it. It was here that the tiny me decided to leave the path and find a nice place to rest. As he started to doze, everything went black.

"_Great… what now?" _I wondered. Then, I heard singing. It was a humble tune, one that quickly got stuck in my head.

_Na na na_

_Na na na_

_Na_

_Na _

_Na na_

_Na na na_

_Na na na_

_Na_

_Na_

_Na na_

_Na na na_

_Na na na_

_Na_

_Na na _

_Na na _

_Na_

_Na na na_

_Na na _

The black slowly turned back into the scene that had just gone, only this time, there was a little girl with a ponytail standing above the younger me. _"Oh, it's you…the boy visiting the old man's farm."_

The mini me didn't respond.

"…_Do you always play alone? I like it here, too, so I come here a lot to play alone."_

Still the other me said nothing.

"_It's lonely playing with myself all the time… Tell me some stories… about the city… and about you."_

I never got to find out what I did after that because the scene changed yet again. This time, the me and that girl where sitting on top of a cliff overlooking a sunset. It was here that the girl started singing that hypnotic melody of hers. Just as the sun was almost completely gone, both me and the younger me joined in as well.

The scene changed yet again and I was quite frankly fed up with it. I hoped that this would be the last one. The scenery now showed the younger me and Grandpa Jack standing at the entrance to the farm.

"_So how was it?"_ the old man asked. _"Did you have fun? Did you kiss a girl?"_

The boy nodded his head, then immediately shook it.

"_Well, at least this trip wasn't a total waste. You had fun. Good. I'm glad that you were able to make some fond memories while you were here. When you go home, tell your Mom and Dad that I enjoyed it too… I'm gonna miss you boy. Hopefully, you'll remember everything I taught ya."_

The younger me and Grandpa Jack embraced. Finally, the old man let go and I walked off. Before he could make it out the entrance though, the little girl came running up to him.

"_Hey, Jack! Are you ready to play with me?"_ the girl asked.

"_HA!" _Grandpa Jack laughed.

Sadly, mini me shook his head.

"_Oh, are you leaving? That makes me feel lonely… After playing with you, it'll be boring just playing with myself again."_

Grandpa Jack kept laughing. _"You're killing me! I can't stop laughing! Now, I gotta go or I'll wet myself!"_ Grandpa Jack ran off, leaving me, myself, and the little girl alone together.

"_You'll come back again someday, right?"_

The me nodded.

"_Okay. I'll hold you to it. Remember, you promised…"_

After a tender embrace, everything started to spin and go dark. Before I could prevent it from happening, I was once again falling down a deep, dark chasm.

I opened my eyes and found myself on my knees. My stomach lurched. I keeled over and threw up. As I heaved on all fours, I realized that I was covered in sweat. My hands were shaking and my knees were trembling. Snot leaked out of my nose while my tears fell to the ground. It all happened so fast. My whole life, I've never set foot here. Yet those memories were mine. They were of me. How did I forget? What happened to me?

Mayor Thomas ran up to me. "Jack! Are you alright? What happened?"

"I remember…" I heaved. "I remember being here. I remember my grandpa."

Mayor Thomas sighed and handed me a handkerchief to wipe my mouth and face with. "… It's been a long time since then. You've grown well in those years. I'm sorry if I hurt you, trying to get you to remember the past. It was an old fool's dream. I guess some things are better left not knowing."

I wiped my face and stood up. I doubted the mayor would want his handkerchief back after I cleaned my face with it, so I stuck it in my back pocket. "Can you get to the point already, Mayor. I'm not in the mood right now. I'd appreciate it if you just cut to the chase and just told me why you brought me out here."

Mayor Thomas sighed again. "… So I talked this over with the people in the village. Your grandfather took real good care of this farm. We respect his wishes and would like to see how much you can accomplish in three years. …We don't mean to be testing you, but… If you can get this farm back like it was, the village will accept you as the rightful owner of the farm. But if the farm is neglected or you can't get along with the villagers, then… you'll have to leave. That is the decision we made as a village."

I stared at Mayor Thomas. "What's the catch? Why are you asking me? Wouldn't there be more qualified people to do this sort of thing? I don't know the first thing about farming."

The mayor shook his head. "There is no catch, m'boy. It's like I told you over the phone. Your grandpa died over a year ago. We just recently found his will. In it he specifically stated that everything was to be left to you. Since we all knew you as a kid, we knew you were just the type of person who could take on this task. Unfortunately, some things happened to… split your grandpa and you up. Still, I don't know of anyone more capable than the grandson of Grandpa Jack. Farming's in your _genes_, boy. Don't knock it till you try it."

I looked around at the place. I never realized I could gain so much worth so less. My lifestyle back home, though it was meager at best, was a lot better than starting off from scratch. That is, it would've been if I had a home to return to. I left everything all behind coming here. When Mayor Thomas told me that I had inherited everything my long lost grandfather had, I thought I'd be a millionaire. Instead, I became poorer.

When I found out that I had a grandfather that my dad never told me about, that he kept him a secret from me even after he died, that I never got a chance to know someone who certainly wanted to know me, I came here against my father's wishes. I quit my job and sold what little I had to get here. Wish I hadn't. Now, I couldn't just go back. I'd look like a retard in front of my dad. The absolute last thing I _ever_ wanted to hear him say was, 'I told you so.' This was my new home for the next three years whether I liked it or not.

I looked at Mayor Thomas and sighed. "Fine. I'll stay."

Mayor Thomas seemed elated. "Excellent choice, m'boy. Excellent choice. I'm sure glade we don't have to sell this beautiful land to those real estate vultures. Anyways, just remember that farming is very hard work, but I hope you do your best and become a great farmer like your grandfather!" With that, the mayor walked off with a spring in his step.

I was dead tired from everything I had just gone through. Whatever farming I needed to do would have to wait until tomorrow. I walked over to my shack and carefully opened the door. After close examination of the place, I found that even in its terrible condition, everything was still sturdy as a rock. Whoever built this place built it to last.

Not caring about anything else, I made my way over to the bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light.

I still had my usual dream of a storm though, even in my fatigue.


	2. Y1Sp2P1 Store Credit

**Year 1: 2nd of Spring – Part 1**

Store Credit

I woke up to a rooster crowing. Looking over at the clock on the wall, I slumped back onto my pillow in frustration. It was only five o'clock in the morning. _'I'm not in the city anymore. This is how things are done in the country. You'll get used to it,'_ I had to tell myself as I rolled out of the bed. I scratched my butt and yawned. Mid-yawn, I heard giggling outside. I snapped my eyes to the window but all I saw was a blur.

I raced towards the door and yanked it open. There was no one outside. I hesitantly closed the door, wondering if the person was going to show up again. _'It was probably just my imagination,'_ I told myself as I walked over to my rucksack and changed clothes. I slipped into some clean undies, donned my shirt, put on my overalls one leg at a time, then slipped the suspenders over my shoulders, pulled my boots on, tied a red handkerchief around my neck, and then placed my hat on my head, backwards. It wasn't much, but I liked it.

There wasn't much to look at in this tiny shack. There was the bed, a table in the middle of the room, some boxes in the corner, a bookshelf with volumes of nothing interesting to read, a toolbox in another corner, a calendar on the wall, and finally a huge tube TV. I walked over to the TV and turned one of the knobs on the side to switch it on. The knob below the power knob had only four numbers on it. Number one was the weather report. Number two was the news. Number three showed some kind of special on the New Years. Number four was the worst one. It showed some stupid kid's show called Life on the Farm with Farmer Fran and Jimmy. Lame.

Finally deciding to stop goofing off, I walked over to the tool chest to see what I was going to be working with. Inside were five rudimentary objects; a sickle, an axe, a mallet, a hoe, and a watering can. I sighed heavily. _'Where was I, the stone ages?' _I thought to myself. Remembering back to the horrific sight yesterday, I picked up the sickle, the hoe, and the axe to start off with

I left the house and locked the door. When I turned around, dumpy Mayor Thomas was standing right behind me. He was still wearing his tacky red suit with matching top hat, blue vest, and yellow bowtie. His nose looked as if it was constantly swollen due to an insect bite. I also noticed that he wore spectacles. It was hard to see since his mustache distracted you from looking at anything else, except for his balding head.

"GAH!" I cried out in alarm.

"Good morning, Jack," he said, cheerful as always. "I came to show you around the village, if you'd like."

"Uh… No, thank you," I politely said. If I was going to check this village out, it certainly wasn't going to be as a tourist. "I'm sure I'll figure out where everything's at. I also want the chance to meet the villagers on my own."

Mayor Thomas seemed really disappointed at hearing this. Him giving me a tour was probably the highlight of his day. Being the mayor of a village of thirty people must give him a lot of free time. "Oh, well… once things settle down on the farm you should take a walk around the village."

"Thanks for the offer," I rolled my eyes. "I'll be sure to do that.

He brightened up a little. "Just one thing. If you leave the farm and turn to the right you'll find the Poultry Farm and Yodel Ranch."

"Okay Mayor."

"And if you head north, you'll find the Blacksmith –"

"Okay Mayor."

"And if you head east after heading north, you'll arrive at the Supermarket –"

"Goodbye Mayor." I started escorting the mayor off the farm.

"And if you keep going, you'll reach the Clinic, and then the Church!" was the mayor's last cry before he was off my property.

The mayor walked off a bit and then turned around. "I'll see you later!" he said, and then he was gone.

No sooner had he left when a huge muscled man in a grey wife beater with a rag over his shoulders walked up to me. I thought this guy was about to pummel me for no reason at all, but when he stopped in front of me, he gave me a huge grin. "Hello Jack, it's nice to finally meet you again! I'm the buyer, Zack," he said, extending his hand out to me. I grabbed it and he shook mine enthusiastically. "The mayor told me you had arrived. Well, you should know that as a farmer, there's just one thing you need to remember. There's a Bin on the farm, and that's where you place the produce you want to sell. I'll drop by every evening at five o'clock p.m. to see if there's anything to pick up, and pay you on the spot.

"Oh, but I won't drop by on festival days. I want holidays too! Hahahahaha… Haa…"

I looked at Zack skeptically.

"There are also Bins in the henhouse and in the sheep and cow barn. You can sell the vegetables you've harvested as well as the things you've gathered in the mountains. Of course, you can sell eggs, wool and milk too. Got it? Good. I'll come again at five o'clock p.m. Nice meeting you, Jack. I'll look forward to getting to know you."

With that, he shook my hand again and walked off laughing. "Wahahahahahaha!"

'_You know,'_ I thought to myself, _'maybe this place isn't as bad as I originally thought. If all the people are this friendly, I could really enjoy it here. You certainly can't find this in the city._

'_Of course, people usually aren't _this_ friendly either. Maybe I'm actually trapped in a village full of backwater crazies waiting for the first opportunity to kill me when my guard is down… But then again, I've only met two people. I'm sure not _everyone_ is that crazy. There's got to be some sane people here, right? I just hope there are some people my age. Maybe I can finally find a girlfriend and settle down. Now _that_ would be the life.'_

After I took in the scenery for a bit, I pulled the hoe out of my rucksack. I walked over to a clear part of the field and hoed a bit of the land. "Whew! That's enough for one day," I said to myself as I threw the hoe over my shoulder where it landed on the ground unceremoniously. "It's time to go check out the village."

I decided to head north first instead of east like the mayor suggested. This place was rather nice. It was full of trees and greenery. The city certainly didn't have this. The paths had quaint street lamps every so often. It was really beautiful here.

The first building that I came to had a sign out front that said Blacksmith on it. It also said that it was open from nine to four everyday but was closed on Thursdays. I'd have to go visit that place if my tools ever broke and needed fixing. The owner might even have more tools for me to help me with the farm, I assumed. The next building over was Aja Winery. This building was open from nine to noon and was closed on Saturdays. As I continued on down the path, I came to a house with the Library attached to it. If I ever wanted to check out a book, I could come from ten to four on any day except Monday.

After the Library, the path cut east. There were a couple more houses that I came across. Since I didn't know who lived there and that it was still early, I decided to just avoid them. I didn't want to piss anyone off just as I got here. Farther down the road, I reached the Supermarket. This place was open from nine to six and was closed on Tuesdays and Sundays. I looked at my watch. It was after nine, _and _it was Monday! I guess today was my lucky day.

As I walked through the door, the first thing I saw was a man with black hair, wearing a white lab coat and a stethoscope around his neck, talking to a guy behind the counter with combed back black hair and wearing what looked like a parlor shoppe uniform. Just from looking at the back of the man in the lab coat, I could already tell that he constantly wore a look that he thought everyone was beneath him while the person behind the counter was a coward.

I walked over to the produce section of the store and began perusing the merchandise when I heard the guy in the lab coat say, "I'll bring the money next time."

"Huh? The next time…?" the guy behind the counter whimpered.

'_This is none of your business,'_ I told myself as the guy in the lab coat left.

From the back room, a woman with light brown hair pulled into a bun and wearing a simple blue and white dress came running out. "Jeff!" she asked incredulously. "You sold on credit again! You're such a pushover… Honestly, sometimes I wonder why I even married you."

"Sasha… I…" Jeff mumbled.

Sasha sighed. "That was the doctor, right? I'll go to the Clinic to get the money."

"Umm…"

Sasha rushed out of the Supermarket, probably not even aware that I was in there too. I crossed the room to check out a larger rucksack I had just spotted when another man came in. This one was bigger in stature and very well-to-do looking. His hair looked like a dead skunk was keeping his scalp warm though. He walked over to the produce section and grabbed a loaf of bread.

"Hey, I'll take this. Put it on my tab," he said.

"Oh… that thing… Okay. Yeah, next time," Jeff moaned.

I had had enough of this. When this prick made to leave, I stood in his way. "Say, aren't you Jack, Grandpa Jack's grandson? I heard you took over the farm. Congrats man! It's nice to know that Grandpa was able to get a relative of his into the family business."

I folded my arms and stared at the guy, but otherwise I said nothing.

"What's wrong?" Skunkhead asked. "You don't look good."

"You should pay," I straight out told him

Skunkhead started laughing obnoxiously. "Hahaha! Good one. Me, pay? That's a laugh. Anyways, it's okay. Me and Jeff go way back. He's cool with this."

I leaned over and looked at Jeff. "He doesn't look like he's cool with it to me."

That's when the back door burst open again. This time, a smoking hotthotthott girl came barging out. She had long brown hair with blonde highlights. She also wore a wife beater that fully accentuated her enormous breasts, tucked into short shorts that exposed legs that could go on for miles. Over the wife beater, she wore a purple vest that made her gorgeous green eyes pop out. I had to check myself before she caught me staring, so I went back to looking at the rucksack.

"Duke!" she shouted with a melodic voice that could hypnotize a sailor or send demon running in fear.

I could feel Duke cringe. "Oh… Karen! You look as lovely as ever. I was just about to go and –"

"Hold it right there, mister! You're not taking another step. You should pay when you buy something!"

Duke slumped forward. "Okay… Okay… You, I can't escape. Here you go Karen. Jeff, you've got one heck of a daughter," he said before he left.

I heard footsteps walk up to the counter, a cash register opening and closing, then footsteps walk up to me. "Jack?" Karen whispered my name.

Shivers raced up and down my spine and I spun around.

"JACK! IT IS YOU! AIIIEEE!" she squealed before she jumped on me.

Her arms chocked my neck while her legs wrapped around my waist, caressing my body and keeping hers pinned to mine. My arms flew out, not wanting to place them anywhere I shouldn't. The added weight made me try and compensate to keep my balance, but instead I over corrected and fell over backwards. Karen leaned back and moved her hair out of her eyes as she straddled me. The view I had was the underside of her boobs.

"Jack! I _can't _believe you're back! I've missed you _so_ much. You wouldn't believe how _boring_ this place is without you. This whole time you've been away, all I've really had is Rick to keep me company, and he's nowhere near as fun or as sexy as you are! Oh, this is _so_ wonderful! I can't wait to show you all the clothes that I've made! And since the weather is nice outside, you'll get to see me in my bikinis! I couldn't swim before, but I can swim now. I had you to inspire me, after all. This will be _so _much fun! I'm _so_ excited! And the Spring Goddess festival is coming up! I'll finally get to wear my mom's ceremonial dress! You'll get to see me dance, and then afterwards we can –"

"Excuse me," I whispered. Karen shut up immediately. "Do… I know you?"

A look of horror flashed across Karen's face. Then it turned into realization. "No," she said with a nervous chuckle as she got up off me, "of course not. I was mistaken. I'm sorry. It was my bad."

When Karen was fully up, she reached down her arm to offer me a lift. I took it and she pulled me up. "Are you sure?" I squinted at her closely to see if I could recognize her. Karen blushed a scarlet red. "You sure seem like you know me."

"Oh… That… That must be… be because… you look so much like Grandpa Jack! Yeah, that's it! You look so much like Grandpa Jack! And he's told me so much about you. I must have combined all that in my head. S-sorry for knocking you over…"

"Oh, don't worry about it," I laughed as I scratched the back of my head. "I guess there are worse things that could happen than being attacked by a beautiful girl."

"Y-yeah," Karen blushed further. "A-a-anyways… Thanks for the help… I mean with Duke… Thanks for the help with Duke. My names Karen… if you didn't already know that. If you didn't then my name is Karen. If you did then I just said my name twice for no reason at all. Well… Anyways, it was nice to meet you! I gotta go now!"

And with that, Karen ran out of the doors, her hair whipping behind her, as if her life depended on getting as far away from me as fast as she could.

Not knowing why, I ran after her, leaving Jeff behind as he moaned, "Oh… I have a stomachache…"


	3. Y1Sp2P2 Forest Adventure

**Year 1: 2nd of Spring – Part 2**

Forest Adventure

Once outside, I looked around for Karen. I knew now why I needed to chase her. She knew something I didn't. She probably had some inkling as to why I couldn't remember her but she remembered me. I was an idiot to let her beautiful looks distract me. Once she had gone though, my mind because clear and focused again.

Sure, I was here to restore my grandpa's farm. But since coming here, I've been getting the strangest feeling that everyone knows me, but I can't recall ever coming here before. Not to mention there was that strange dream I had yesterday which I barely remember. The only thing I can recall was a terrible storm happening. Now, this hotthotthott Karen girl is all up on me and I haven't done jack to instigate it?

Back home, I couldn't get a girl to like me even if I had a million dollars super glued to my skin. Now, this girl is about a hairs breath away from raping me right in front of that Jeff guy and I haven't just jack squat. Something was going on here and I intended to find out just what the heck it was. If it came down to it, I have to interrogate Karen. A huge chunk of my life was missing. I needed to get it back.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement to my left and turned just in time to see Karen running off in the distance. I quickly followed her, passing the Clinic along the way until I arrived at a church where Karen rounded the corner and took refuge behind the building. I slowed down, not wanting to let her know I had chased her down.

When I reached the corner of the building, I stopped and pulled back when I heard another voice back there. This one was male. "Karen? What's wrong? Why were you running? Was someone chasing you?"

"Oh, Rick!" Karen cried. "I screwed up."

"What do you mean?" Rick said, suddenly growing worried. "What happened?"

"It's Jack!" Karen sobbed. "He's back. When I saw him, I lost my head and acted like I knew him, but he had no clue who I was. This is all my fault. I ruined everything."

Rick was silent for a moment. "It's going to be okay," Rick finally consoled her. "Just… Just try and keep your distance from now on. As long as that happens, everything will be fine. Things will work out in the end, you'll see."

Karen continued to sob. I sat down with my back against the church. I needed to figure out what to do. I needed to figure out what happened to me. Now that I knew that whatever happened to me happened here, there was no way I would _ever _just ignore things and leave things as they were. I needed my life back.

Back when I was ten, I woke up in a hospital covered in bandages. I didn't know who I was, where I came from, or what happened to me. I was completely empty. Strangers claiming to be my parents took care of me for nearly two years, trying to get me to understand who they were, who I was, and everything else a normal ten to twelve year old should know.

I watched as the woman who became my mother slowly start to move farther and farther away from me and the man who assumed the role of my father until there came a time when I just never saw her anymore. The man had to leave me as well. He poured his grief and duty to me into his work, trying to make ends meat to pay for my hospital bills. It was a hard task which he succeeded at, but he was never able to recover from the loss of his wife.

In the meantime, I watched as two people claiming to be my parents drifted apart while I was still in my first year at the hospital. Until I left a year or so later, I had to learn how to move and talk and think again practically all by myself. Sure, there were the dozen or so nurses at my side to help me through the pain and the grief. If I was older, I would've been in heaven, surrounded by beautiful women who bathed me, changed me, fed me, and anything else to keep me going. It was them that I owed my life to since my parents practically abandoned me.

But I wasn't an adult. I was a kid, a kid who had no idea of who he was or what happened to him. I was devastated. My parents never talked about it, and even if they did I wouldn't have understood what they said at the time anyways. Other than the nurses, no one came to visit me. I had no friends. I had no other family that I knew of. I was all alone.

Once I had progressed to the point where I could function normally, I basically became a stay at home child. When it came to school, I had to teach myself. Junior High, High School, I just barely passed those with my limited understanding of what I was trying to teach myself. My sucky grades just barely allowed me to get a dead end job at an animal nursery. There was no way my dad would let me work for him since he became CEO of his company. I was too much of an embarrassment to constantly keep me right under his nose.

That was how my life went up until New Year's Eve when I received a call out of the blue from Mayor Thomas telling me about a dead grandpa that I'd never heard of leaving everything in his will to me specifically. Thinking it a hoax, I called up the man I called dad to ask about it. He flew off the hinge, commanding me to never go to Mineral Village. That was all the proof I needed to disobey him. I was seventeen and living on my own. I didn't live under his roof, so I didn't need to follow his rules.

Little did I know that "everything" according to my dead grandpa would mean less than nothing. The only thing worthwhile about this trip so far would be the fact that over the last seven years of my life, every crazy thing that's happened to me so far has been only things to truly make sense since my accident. The call out of the blue, the dream-memory, Karen… all subtle hints of anarchy that explained more about my life than my "parents" ever did.

Now, all of that brought me to this point in my life, where the pursuit of knowledge may just come at the cost of a girl's happiness. So here was my dilemma. Continue to push for answers, taking Karen on an emotional roller coaster ride that will most likely end up in tragedy, or give up trying to understand who I am and just move on with my life? I didn't know Karen, but I wasn't the kind of guy to do that. The nurses raised me right.

When I returned to reality, Karen had stopped crying. "Do you remember when Pastor Carter came to this village?" she softly asked, reminiscing.

"Yes, we were celebrating that sparkling new building," Rick mused.

"What memories… And it was built right in front of the forest as well. After mass, we would always go off exploring. Hey! I have an idea! Let's go to the forest… we haven't been there in so long! It'll be just like old times," Karen said, excitement returning to her voice.

"Yes, we used to explore there all the time. Back before –"

"Rick! I'm trying my hardest to not dwell on that. So let's not bring up painful memories, _please_? Let's just go and fun now. I don't want to dwell on the past."

"Okay, let's go!"

I strained myself trying to hear anything else, but they were gone. Finding no reason to stay, I decided to walk back to the Supermarket. Before I ever did so though, I stumbled across a graveyard. In no time at all, I found my grandpa's headstone since it was the newest. _'Here lies Grandpa Jack. Friend and Family to us all,'_ read the headstone. Those words made me miss not getting to know him more than I ever could have realized. I guess all that was left to do is to try and fill the emptiness he left behind.


	4. Y1Sp2P3 Occupational Hazards

**Year 1: 2nd of Spring – Part 3**

Occupational Hazards

For some reason, reading my grandpa's headstone made me want to live up to his name. I never knew the guy, but what I did know of him got me to like him a lot more than my own father. My father pushed everything he loved away. My mother… Me… Grandpa… All he seemed to care about was his work. Well, someday he'll wish that he made things right, long more his family and miss his wife, remember the days he had everything, but for now he's alone and miserable to boot.

I can barely remember those memories that came to me when I first got here, but the reactions from the townspeople that I've met when they think I'm my grandpa is one full of love. That I can respect. He may not have been there for me, probably because of my dad, but he was here for these people, and they loved him. That made restoring his farm a more worthwhile cause in my book.

I got up and made my way back to the Supermarket. I was going to need seeds to start growing crops. Things would be hard at first. All I had was three hundred gold, which wasn't much. I needed to increase that. Once I had a steady cash flow going, I could work on getting animals. I didn't know the first thing about farming, but I knew enough to know that I needed to clear the field to grow crops and that crops equals money. What more was there?

Along the path back, I passed the Clinic again. The sign said that it was open today and right now so I decided to pop in for a bit and check it out. When it came to any medical institution, I always hated doctors. They seemed so… distant. It was like they were trying to cut off their emotions so as not to get attached to how the patients felt. If they were emotionally detached, maybe then they could focus on the patient's well-being instead of their comfort.

Nurses, on the other hand, were full of emotion. They were the flip side of doctors wanting nothing more than the patient to be comfortable. When I was back in the hospital recovering from my accident, I rarely saw the doctor. When I did, he would pop in, do some tests, then leave. The nurse stayed, helped me out, and talked with me.

At first, all they did was talk to me since I was incapable of talking back. Their kindness also helped me want to reach out to them. I pushed and struggled to learn how to speak again so I could keep _them _company. That drive helped me to become fluent again in no time. I then became someone they wanted to be around. More came by to visit me than was assigned to my care. It was thanks to those nurses that I made it this far today. I owed them a lot. Not my so called mother, who abandoned me. Not my fake father, who ignored me. I owed my well-being to complete strangers who decided to care.

Still though, I didn't like doctors. So why was I going into a clinic? I was in a small village. If anything were to happen, this is the place where I'd have to go. That meant I had to know the doctor whether I liked it or not. Being a farmer was dangerous work. I could sustain a heavy injury from an animal, or from farm equipment, or any other disaster that could happen outside the farm. I had to make peace here and now or I'd find myself screwed later on.

As I walked through the doors, the first thing I noticed was a girl no older than I was sitting behind a desk. She had short, light-brown hair, and she was wearing a blue dress with an apron over it. This girl also had a homely look about her and smelled heavily of apple pie. If there was anything to not like about what I saw, I was blind to it.

'_She must be the nurse,' _I thought to myself, liking her already as I walked up to her.

When I neared, she looked up and gave me a kind smile. "Hello, Jack. You're now the owner of Grandpa's farm, right? You look so much like him."

I stared at her. How did she know my name? "Yeah… that's right. And… who are you, again?"  
"Oh! Forgive my rudeness! I'm Elli. What can I do for you?"

"I just came in to get to know who worked here, just in case I ever really needed it."

"I see," she smiled. "That _is _a smart thing to do, although let's pray that you never have to come in for anything other than a cold. We wouldn't want the newest member of our village to sustain any serious injuries, now would we?"

"And why is that?" I wondered.

"Well Jack, that's because you're our lifeblood."

I looked at her in shock. "I'm your whatnow?"

"Our lifeblood," Elli giggled. "The crops that you grow on your farm not only get exported to places outside of Mineral Village, they are also the primary source of food that we eat. Things have been really hard for us since Grandpa died. We've had to import a lot of food. Because of the preservatives that have been added to make the produce last longer, a lot of people have been coming in sick.

"This is why we'd like you to stay. We've grown close together as a village and we'd like to stay this way. Sure, it may not seem like much being so small, but it's friendly and its home. Without someone to provide a steady source of food, we'd eventually have to sell and move away. Our skillsets would never make it in the big cities."

Elli wiped her eyes, breathed in deep and slow, then exhaled it all to calm herself down. Then she smiled at me again

"Weren't you told any of this?"

"This is the first I've heard," I said honestly, "and I can see why. I think Mayor Thomas wanted me to stay because it was my choice and not because I was guilted into it."

"That _does _sound like our mayor. We all cared for Grandpa deeply. You shouldn't get offended if we see him every time we look at you. After all, you two look uncannily alike. But if that _does _offend you, I hope you know that we don't mean it to be. I'm sure that the more we get to know you, the less we will stop doing that."

I smiled at Elli. "Well thanks," I told her. "You know, you're the most normal person I've met so far."

"Really? Who's been the weirdest?" Elli asked out of curiosity.

"Oh, some girl named Karen. She jumped on me and claimed that she knew me. It makes me wonder if that's what she did to my grandpa," I laughed.

For a brief moment, shock and fear filtered across Elli's face, but that was quickly replaced with a warm smile again. "Oh really now? Well, Karen _has _always been the most _air headed_ out of all of us. Anyways, let's see about that checkup."

"My what now?" I asked, suddenly terrified out of my mind. "I don't remember asking for anything like that!"

"Well, you're here now, so you might as well get one anyways." I started hyperventilating. "Oh, don't worry. There won't be any needles involved. I'm just going to check your pulse and your heartbeat and make sure you're breathing fine. That's nothing to be scared of, is it?"

I calmed down a bit. "Well, I guess not."

"Okay, good. Why don't you take off your shirt and sit down on the examining table in the back?"

I shrugged and took off my shirt. She _was _a nurse after all.

Elli's smile disappeared as it changed into shock.

"What? What is it?" I asked, suddenly scared again.

"What? Oh… Oh nothing! I… I just didn't expect you to be so… so fit."

"Eh?" I looked down at my body. "Oh, that's because I had to be in order to work with some of the animals back home. I used to work at a nursery for animals. Sometimes I had to push the animals, but most of the time it was just moving heavy boxes and crates and stuff."

"That was very kind of you, taking care of all those animals. Anyways, if you'd please."

"Oh… right." I moved over to the table and sat on it.

Elli pulled out a stethoscope from one of the pockets on her dress and put it on. She breathed slowly and heavily on the metal disc at the end, which I admit was slightly arousing. She then put in on my chest as her opposite hand moved to my back. "Is it too cold?" she asked.

"No, it's fine."

"That's great. Would you please breathe in nice and slowly?" I did so. She moved the stethoscope. "And again?" I did so again, and she moved it again. "And again?" I did so again. She moved the stethoscope to my back and repeated the process. After that, she pulled a stool over to sit on as she placed two fingers on the underside of my wrist and looked at a clock. After that, she pulled out a pen light and looked into my eyes, then she used that thing to check my ears. She pulled out a tongue depressor and made me say "Ah."

"Well," she finally said, "your pulse and heart rate are normal. Your eyes and ears look fine. Your throat looks good. Now, would you mind taking off your shoes?"

I did so and she proceeded to check my feet. While she did, I couldn't help notice how smooth the skin was on her hands. Her touch was very delicate but firm and as she moved up to my ankles, the sensation sent shivers up my spine. I didn't remember the other nurses making me feel this way when I was younger, but then again that was seven years ago.

"Your feet look fine," she finally said. "Could you please roll up your pant legs?" As I started to, Elli said, "Oh my… You have a cut!"

"Huh?" I said, looking down at my leg. It was less like a cut and more like a small gash. "Where did _that _come from?" I wondered. "Oh… wait. That probably happened when I fell down yesterday."

"You fell down yesterday and got _that_? What happened?" Elli inquired.

"I… don't really remember. I remember remembering something but the pain in my head was so great that when I went to sleep I forgot what I remembered. The pain from when I remembered whatever caused me to fall over and throw up. I must have scraped my leg over a rock."

Elli leaned in and gently touched the outside of it. "Does it hurt?" she asked?

The gentle touch sent searing pain up my leg and made me cry out. Then, to try and cover it, I said, "Oh… There's no pain at all. Heh heh heh… I didn't feel a thing," as tears came to my eyes.

For some reason, Elli giggled. "Oh Jack, you don't need to lie. It looks excruciating. But you know, _real_ men aren't supposed to cry over something so small."

"Guess I'm not a real man then," I was fine with saying.

"Nope. I guess that just makes you a great guy."

"Oh, really?" I cocked an eyebrow.

"Yup. I don't like real men. They think that they're supposed to be as tough as nails and try to do everything themselves, as if doing that impresses us girls. The truth is, we like to help, and a great guy allows us to do that. Great guys have the attitude of real men when it comes to acting like they're tough as nails while being humble enough to know that without a woman, they would get nowhere.

"Let's take you for example. I touched your cut and you cried out in pain. Then you tried to cover it up by saying it didn't hurt. Yet you still sit there waiting for me to help. Is that correct?"

"Might as well be," I shrugged. "_You're _the nurse here."

"So, are you saying that because I'm a nurse, you'll do whatever I tell you to?" Elli leaned in _really _close to me.

"Am I going to regret saying yes?" I leaned back a bit.

Elli giggled. "Here, let me help." She got up and grabbed a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. "Now, this might sting a little, but it will clean the wound."

I bit my tongue as she dabbed it on. Then she placed a bandage over it and handed me another one. "What's this for?" I asked, looking at it.

"It's for if you need to change the dressing, silly. Okay, you're all done here. Other than that cut, I see nothing wrong with you."

"Sweet," I said. I hopped off the table and put my shirt and shoes back on as Elli watched me dress. "Say, where's the doctor at?" I wondered.

"Oh, Sasha came in earlier and made him pay all of his debts. Once he paid them and Sasha left, I chastened him for what he was doing to poor Jeff. Now, he's probably up on Mother's Hill thinking about what he did."

"Oh… Okay. Well, it was nice meeting you Elli. Thanks for the nearly painless checkup."

"It was nice seeing you too, Jack. When farming has made you weary, _please_ come back and see me. I'll do my best to help you feel better."

I looked at her skeptically. "Are… Are you _hitting _on me?"

"Now Jack," Elli stuck her hands on her hips, "what kind of doctor-patient relationship would that be if I hit on you?"

"Are you a doctor?" I inquired.

"No. I hope to be some day though. But think about this, if I was hitting on you, would you be opposed to it?"

I didn't know what to think.

"Where are you headed off to now?" Elli asked as she followed me to the door.

"Oh, I'm going to head back to the Supermarket and pick up some seeds for the farm. Why? Are you heading there as well?" I left the Clinic and held the door open for her.

"Oh no," Elli giggled. "I do have to step out for a bit though. I'll see you around?"

"I don't see why not. Later," I waved, then went my way.


	5. Y1Sp2P4 Bandage For Brother

**Year 1: 2nd of Spring – Part 4**

Bandage For Brother

As I walked into the Supermarket, I saw Jeff still looking down behind the counter. "Hey Jeff," I waved to him.

He glanced up at me. "Oh… Hello Jack."

I walked up to him. "What's up?" I asked.

Jeff sighed. "Oh, you know… you were here. By the way, thanks for trying to help out earlier."

"No problem," I said. "That Duke and doctor guy were way outta line. I'm glad I could help. So what's getting you down."

"I'm a failure," he slumped. "My own wife and daughter have more backbone than I do. I don't even know why I even bother sometimes."

"Your wife and daughter?" I inquired.

"Yeah, Sasha is my wife and Karen is my daughter."

"WHAT?" I cried out. Jeff looked at me in surprise. "I thought they were your sisters! You don't look anywhere near old enough to be a father and husband!"

Jeff smiled at this. "How old do I look?"

"I don't know. A year older than I am, maybe? Eighteen or nineteen at least. Exactly how old _are_ you?"

"I'm forty-two, but thanks for saying that. I feel better now," Jeff smiled. I was still in shock. "So what can I help you with?"

"I'm looking to buy some seeds for my farm."

"Oh, okay. Well, what kind of seeds were you looking for?"

"That's the thing," I confessed, "I have no idea. I don't know the first thing about farming, other than you put the seeds in the ground and you water them. Can you help me out?"

"That's what I'm here for," Jeff beamed. "Okay, so first off, how much money do you have?"

"Five hundred gold," I said, dismally.

"Five hundred, eh? Well, that's not _too_ bad." Jeff pondered for a bit. "Here are the prices. One bag has nine seeds in it. Turnips cost one hundred and twenty gold, sell for sixty gold each, and take five days to harvest. Potatoes cost one hundred and fifty gold, sell for eighty gold each, and take eight days to harvest. Cucumbers cost the most at two hundred gold a bag and they sell for the same amount as turnips per crop. The best thing about cucumbers though is that once their planted, they'll continue to produce until the season is over. You won't get that with the other crops. Now, since you only have five hundred gold, what you pick all depends on what you prefer more. Are you the time of guy who's more concerned about time, or money?"

"Uh… time?" I said. "I can worry about money later."

"Okay then. That means you should probably go with turnips. They grow the fastest and cost the same amount as cucumbers. That means you can basically harvest two crops of turnips in the time it takes to crow one crop of cucumbers. And since you have five hundred gold, you can buy four bags. If my calculations are correct, by the next time I'll see you, you'll have made two thousand one hundred and sixty gold. Add that to the twenty you'll have left over for a total of two thousand one hundred and eighty gold. That's a net gain of one thousand six hundred and eighty gold. That's three point three six times the amount of gold you're currently starting out with."

"Okay," I shrugged. "I'll trust you since you sound like you know what you're talking about." I walked over to the center counter and picked up two bags of turnips. Then I paid Jeff four hundred and eighty gold. "Thanks for advice."

"Oh, you are most certainly welcome!" Jeff grinned. "Come back any time!"

"You know," I said before I left, "you asked me earlier why you even bother. Now, I don't know if you were seriously asking me, but I think the reason why you bother is because you like helping people get the most for their money. I think you just lost sight of that when others got you to believe they'll get more for nothing. As long as you realize that you should receive just as much as you give, people won't be able to push you around anymore."

"Thanks for that…" Jeff looked at me in surprise. "That actually makes a lot of sense. I'll try and think that way from now on."

"No problem, Jeff. I'll see you later," I waved goodbye and left the store.

I wasn't more than a couple feet away when someone shouted, "Wait!"

I turned around and saw Sasha running up to me. "Yeah?" I asked.

"I heard everything that you said to my husband back there and… well, here." She placed another bag of turnip seeds in my hand.

"What's this for?" I asked.

"I know it's not much. It's just thanks for making my husband feel better. Self-esteem is something that he's been lacking lately and Duke and Doc aren't helping. All he needed was someone to believe in him. This is thanks for that."

"Oh… You don't need to do this," I said trying to hand the bag back. "I was happy to help."

"Take it or else," Sasha said sternly.

"Yes, Ma'am!" I thanked her.

Sasha smiled. "Have a good harvest," she said as she went back inside.

I don't think anyone has ever had that effect on me before. It was both nice and scary at the same time. _'So, that's the kind of power that mother's hold…'_ I thought to myself as I walked back to the farm.

Along the way, there was a little boy playing in the path in front of one of the homes. As I approached him, he fell down and started crying. I rushed over and kneeled down. "What happened?" I asked.

With tears rolling down his face, he grabbed his knee. "I fell down," he cried.

I looked at him and saw that he was fine. He was convinced he was hurt though, so I had to come up with something to make him feel better. Then, an idea came to me. I reached into my rucksack and pulled out the bandage that Elli had given to me earlier. "Here you go," I said, patching the kid's knee. "Do you think you'll live?"

He looked down at his knee and the tears stopped coming. Then he gingerly got back on his feet and started jumping around. "I think so, Mister. Thanks! I'm Stu."

"No problem, Squirt." I got up and started waking again.

"Stu, what's wrong? Boys aren't supposed to cry like that…" a voice cried out.

I turned around to see Elli walking up to me. "Elli? What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I live here," she smiled. Then she looked at Stu. "Oh, this bandage… Why didn't you use it?"

"I'm fine," I said. "Stu here needed it more than I did."

"Is that so?" Elli looked at me slyly. "Well, thanks. Stu's my brother. He can be a handful sometimes."

"Little brother?" I said amazed.

"Why so shocked?" Elli's eyebrow raised. "You didn't think he was my son now, did you?"

"Oh… well, no." I scratched the back of my head. "It's just that there are quite a few years between you two. It was just surprising is all. I don't really know anyone around here as well…"

"Relax, Jack." Elli placed a hand on my shoulder to try and calm me. "I was only playing with you. Anyways, I gotta get back inside. Take care, Jack. Did you say 'thank you' to Jack, Stu?"

"Yeah!" Stu beemed.

"Good." Elli rustled his hair. "Let's go home then. See you, Jack."

"Yeah, later." I waved them goodbye.

With nothing else to distract me, I headed back home to get started on my crops.


	6. Y1Sp3P1 Lover Of Peckers And Cocks

**Year 1: 3rd of Spring – Part 1**

Lover Of Peckers And Cocks

It was another glorious morning full of sounds coming from a single stupid rooster that didn't know when to shut the heck up. I wanted to shoot in the face with a shotgun, rip its feathers out, cook it, and then eat it in front of its family. Cock-a-doodle-do… meet my friend Needs-more-sleep. He's pissed off beyond belief.

Knowing that everything I said was just talk; I got up anyways and put my clothes on. Last night I actually was able to do more than just fall into bed and pass out. In fact, I was actually quite proud of myself. Yesterday, I was able to clear a good part of my field. The boulders and stumps I couldn't do a thing with… yet, but the smaller rocks I set aside, planning on using them as a fence for later on. The other pieces of wood, I put into a wood shed that was located in-between the barn and the horse stable. I could use those for firewood, or build a fence out of it as well. I didn't know.

Once a good section was cleared, I picked up my hoe again and tilled the land until it was good enough to plant five bags of turnip seeds in. Once the seeds were planted, I grabbed the watering can and headed over to the pond. Looking at the pond in disgust from all the algae accumulated from stagnation, I planned on cleaning it later as walked over to the stream that bordered the southern end of my property and got water from there.

Once the seeds were watered, it was nearly dark. Zack came by like he said he would and chastised me for not having anything for him in my bins. I told him off, asking what he really expected on my first day of the farm. He accepted that and apologized before taking off again. I went back into my shack, stripped down and hopped into bed, knowing that I had done good that day.

As I was pulling on some fresh boxers, I heard giggling outside again. Abandoning the rest of my clothes, I ran for the door and opened it. There was no one outside. I stuck my head out and looked around, but couldn't find anyone. I reached for the axe I placed by the door, planning on trying to take at those stumps today, and walked outside.

"Hello?" I tentatively asked as I started creeping around my house. "Is anyone there? Crazy girl from the Supermarket? Elli? Mayor Thomas? Anyone?"

After making a full circle and finding no one, I walked back inside the shack and finished getting dressed. It was after that that I noticed a sandwich on the table in the middle of the room. I looked around and found no one here. Wondering where the sandwich came from, I walked over to it.

My mouth started to water as the aroma filled my nostrils. My stomach started grumbling. Looking down at it, I realized that it had been a while since I last ate. This hut didn't have a kitchen so even if I bought food, I'd have nowhere to store it. I didn't even know where to get food here. All the Supermarket had were loafs of bread, riceballs, oil, flour, and curry powder. Other than that, what else was there?

After carefully examining the sandwich to make sure it wasn't spiked with something and finding nothing, I ate it with gusto. Tears came to my mouth from the explosion of flavors. It was like I was in heaven. I don't think I've ever eaten anything tastier. I could've died right there and been at peace. I was so happy, I was equally sad when I finished it. Who knew when I would eat something like that again?

Now that I had everything out of the way, I went outside and watered the crops. Doing so didn't take _nearly_ as long as I thought it would. The sun was just barely beginning to rise. It didn't help looking at how much of the field I still had to clear. Doing so made me moan with grief.

'_I know! I can check out the rest of the town!'_ I told myself, trying to come up with any excuse I could not to work.

I took off out of my farm, but instead of heading north, I decided this time to head east. After walking for a bit, I came across another farm. I vaguely remembered passing it on the first day I came here, but that was way early in the morning and you know how things look different in the dark.

Coming closer to the farm, I heard shouting going on. "OH, I _HATE_ YOU, RICK!" Before I knew what was happening, a girl with bubblegum pink hair came flying at me, tears too thick in her eyes to see. I couldn't dodge her fast enough and she barreled into me and kept going while I flew off to the side. With my head spinning, I stared at the girl as she disappeared off into the distance.

I got up and dusted myself off before walking over to Rick to find out what the heck happened. This guy didn't look any older than me as well, but then… neither did that girl. He had long red hair that was kept out of his face by goggles over his eyes. He also wore what looked like a blacksmith's apron over his clothes.

"Oh… hello," Rick said, looking really depressed as I approached him. "You're jack, right? I heard that you took over Grandpa's farm next door. Sorry for not going over and introducing myself. I only just found out yesterday. If I'd known sooner, I would've brought my family as well as a welcoming gift. Anyways, I guess you heard us arguing…"

"Yeah," I said, rubbing my chest where the girl ran into me. "What the heck was that all about?"

Rick sighed. "What happened was our rooster got killed by a stray dog. My sister Popuri forgot to put it in the coop, so I got mad and yelled at her. It was really a stupid thing to do. She _knows_ that there are animals out there that will harm our chickens if they're not protected. But did she listen to me? Does she _ever_ listen to me? _Nooooo. _She never does and then stuff like this happens."

"Hey now," I spoke up, "isn't that being a _little _unfair? I mean, I don't think she forgot on purpose. Accidents happen. We all make mistakes, even you. Perhaps you made a mistake right now when you yelled at her?"

"You're right!" Rick said with grief. "I shouldn't have yelled at her! Say, Jack… would you do me a favor and go and bring Popuri back home? I think she went up to the hot spring. If I went to get her, we'd probably start arguing again. If you could do that for me, I'd _really_ appreciate it."

"Sure, that's no problem, but…" I scratched the back of my head.

"But what? What is it?" Rick asked, looking desperate.

"Where's the hot spring at?"

"Oh…" Rick slapped his forehead. "I forgot that you're not from around here. The hot spring is up in the mountain behind our house. In fact… if you head past the bridge south of your farm and continued down the path, it'll be up the way on your first right. It's located right next to a waterfall, so if you hear splashing and running water, you're close.

"Okay, I got it," I said, about to take off.

"Jack!" Rick said, stopping me. "There's just one more thing…"

"What is it?" I asked.

"Remember that stray dog I mentioned killed our rooster?"

"Yeah…" I wondered what he was getting at.

Rick looked around to see if we were alone and then leaned in to whisper. "Popuri doesn't know this, but… I caught that dog."

"You what?" I said, surprised.

"Yeah. I don't want it attacking our chickens again, but I can't kill it. It was probably just hungry and lonely. The only thing is, we can't take care of it. Since you have a big farm and all…"

"I don't know…" I said skeptically, already knowing what he was going to ask. "I can barely take care of myself right now. What makes you think that I can take care of a dog?"

Rick looked at me for a bit. Then he said, "Come here," and waved me over to his barn. Just inside sat a cage with a puppy in it. It was brown with a white muzzle, white paws, and the tip of its tail was also white. Whatever breed it was had floppy ears. It certainly seemed friendly and playful as it barked for joy when I approached. Then, it sat and cocked its head as its tongue hung from its mouth

I was smitten right away, but there was something that I had to know first. "You say this dog killed your rooster?"

"Yeah…" said Rick.

"The same rooster that cock-a-doodle-do's every morning?"

"Yup. That was the one."

"I'll take it," I smiled. Rick opened the cage and the dog leaped into my arms and started licking my face while its tail wagged furiously. "Good boy!" I said as I rubbed his head.

"So, what are you going to name him?" Rick wondered.

"Spot," I said. I knew it wasn't original in the slightest, but I sucked at coming up with names. Besides, I wanted to see Spot run. Spot barked as if he accepted the name I gave him.

"Thanks for doing this," Rick said. "And thanks for getting Popuri for me."

I thanked Rick for Spot and headed back home with Spot following at my side. Once back at the farm, I brought Spot over to a dog house that probably belonged to my grandpa's dog and told him that this was his new home and that his job was to protect the farm. Spot barked and stood at attention, as if he understood what I said and accepted the order.

With that, I headed to the bridge with Spot still following next to me. On the other side of the stream were thick woods. It was a good thing that the bridge led directly to a path, otherwise I might've gotten lost easily. Soon, I came to a crossroads. The path continued forward, but it also led to the left and right. Rick said that it was to my right, and I _did_ hear a waterfall that way.

So, I took the path to my right. That led up a flight of stairs that were cut directly from the hillside. Once I got to the top, I saw that there was a small plateau. To my left, there was a walled structure with steam coming out of it. That must be the hot spring. My grandpa must have used this since he didn't have a bathroom.

To my left was the waterfall which did in fact fuel the stream that ran past my farm. I was surprised though when I saw a cave just behind the waterfall. I made a mental note to go explore it sometime. Right now, I was here for Popuri. She was found sitting in front of the stream just as the pool of water fed into it. She wasn't crying anymore. She just seemed out of it.

Spot ran over to her and hopped into her lap, startling her. He then started to lick her face a bit before he curled up into a ball. "Who do you belong to little puppy?" she asked Spot. Popuri didn't even notice me walk up behind her as she started petting him.

"Last night, I did a bad thing," she said, I assumed still talking to Spot. "I forgot to put our rooster in his coop and he got killed by a stray dog. It wasn't you now, was it?" Spot looked up at her, then laid his head back down. "Of course it wasn't. You're a good puppy. Not like that mean vicious dog."

I could see tears coming back to her eyes. "It's just not fair!" she cried. "I didn't mean for our rooster to die! Why did Rick have to yell at me? Why? I'm not a bad girl! I'm _not_!"

I walked over to the side and plucked a flower. Then, I walked back to Popuri and held it in front of her face. She looked at it and then looked up at me. I could see that her eyes were thick with tears again. It was amazing she saw the flower at all. Then she screamed, "I'm I sad about what happened. Rick is _so_ mean!"

I crouched down and rubbed her back a bit. "My sympathies," I mumbled. "I'm… I'm sorry for your loss."

"It… Its name was… P-Pon… I l-l-liked that chicken v-very much, but…" Popuri starting breathing very heavily, causing her chest to rise and fall. I couldn't help but look down at how round they were. Her chest, I mean. Not her eyes. Those were blurred by tears. Popuri wore a green headband to keep her hair back, a red dress with a white tunic, and an even darker red corset over that, making her look skinnier and giving her boobs lift. In one swift motion, Popuri threw herself at me knocking me to the ground and started bawling. _"WHAAAAA!"_

I just laid there and let her cry as I stroked her head. My shirt became wetter and wetter from her tears. This went on for some time until I realized she'd gone quiet. When I looked at her, I realized that she had fallen asleep on me! _'ARRRGGGHHH!'_ I thought to myself in frustration. I didn't want to move her but I didn't want to stay there either. If I wasn't careful, my body might start reacting to her body pressed up to mine.

"_Spot!" _I whispered. _"Help me!" _

Spot walked up to me and curled up into a ball against me.

"_No! Bad dog! Bad!" _It was no use. I was stuck.

There, I waited for the well-endowed pink haired girl to get off of me. She was cute when she wasn't emotionally distraught, I'll give her that. Of course, being on the receiving end of her frustration, I also knew that this girl wasn't to be reckoned with. Eventually, Popuri woke up after an hour.

"Oh my," she yawned and stretched, sticking her chest out even further, "that was such a nice nap. I was so comfortable."

"Well, I'm glad at least someone was." I stood up and popped my sore back.

"Thank you for staying with me. I'm sorry. I don't even know you, but…" Popuri was rubbing her eyes, but once she was finished, she looked up at me. "Wait a minute! _Jack_?"

Popuri backed up and turned away as she blushed. "I-I-I-I-I'm so _sorry_!" she spat out. "If I'd known it was you, I –"

"Don't worry about it. It's cool," I said, extending my hand to pull her up.

When she looked up at me, I could see her blush even harder. But she accepted my hand anyways. "I-I-I'll go apologize to Rick, right away!"

"I'll walk you home," I shrugged.

"Oh! You don't have to do that!"

"Don't worry," I said, trying to calm her down. "You're not _that_ far from me. I have nothing else to do anyways. I'd rather spend that making sure you get home safe."

"O-okay. Thanks." I pulled Popuri up and we began our trek back.

Before we left the hot springs though, I stopped her to ask a question. "Hey, who built this hot spring?"

Popuri looked at it and then looked at me. "Your grandpa did. Since he was old, he said the hot spring kept him young and full of energy. It must have since he was extremely healthy and strong when he died. It came as a shock to everyone when it happened. We all thought he'd live forever."

"So, I take it he used the hot spring often?" I wondered.

"Oh yes, every day in fact. He even got rid of his bathroom because he never used it. We got to use it to, the women of the village I mean, once a week. Grandpa said that it was so relaxing that he felt bad being the only one to use it. So he insisted that at least once a week, the women get together and use it as well to help us relax and stay young and beautiful. We made it a tradition to go every Saturday night, but that was when Grandpa was still alive. We stopped going once he passed on. It just didn't feel the same."

"Mind if I check it out real quick?" I asked.

"Sure," Popuri nodded. "I'll wait here."

I walked around the hot spring until I came to the doors on the other side. I slid them open and walked in. Directly on the inside to my left was a bathroom, thank the goddess. I ran in and quickly relieved myself. Once I had done so, I walked out to the main area and saw that there were some cold showerheads above buckets and stools along the left wall. Everything else was the hot spring. Rocks outlined the pool of steaming water.

'_Finally,'_ I thought to myself, _'I can take a bath! It'll be my first one since I've gotten here. I was beginning to worry. I'm starting to reek. It's a good thing I haven't worked too hard or else everyone would've been repulsed by my stench.' _I sniffed my armpit and pulled away. _'Huh… Either everyone can't smell me or they're attracted to it. Gross…'_

I left the hot spring and walked back to Popuri. As we made our way down the hill and back over the bridge to my farm, I suddenly became extremely embarrassed at the total destruction of the place. To try and compensate for it, I tried to make small talk to try and get Popuri to focus on anything else as we walked back to her home.

"So… Is Rick your husband?" I asked.

"_WHAT?"_ Popuri shouted and looked at me in horror. "Rick is my _brother_! _Not_ my husband!"

Now it was my turn to shout. "WHAT? You two look nothing alike! I assumed when he said to bring you back home, it was because you were his wife!"

"NO! No no no no no no no no no no! Uh uh… no. Rick takes after our dad while I take after our mom, Lillia. We're siblings. I'm _totally_ available."

"Wait…" I backed away from her. "I wasn't asking if –"

"You weren't?" she said, looking a little disappointed. "Well… I am. So, if you _ever_ wanted to ask… I guess you don't need to anymore."

"That's… nice?" I said, growing more and more uncomfortable.

"Yeah! My birthday is on the third of summer. I like tomatoes, corn, pineapples, blue magic red flowers, eggs, milk, bread, and flour, but I absolutely love pinkcat flowers, toy flowers, spa-boiled eggs, and honey."

Now I had absolutely nothing to say.

"I'm scaring you, aren't I?" she said, suddenly looking glum.

"No!" I flat out lied. "I like pineapples, honey, bread, and milk as well. I love animals, taking hikes, going swimming, and my birthday is on the twenty-second of fall."

"Thanks for that," she sighed with relief. "It's just that I'm not really good at hiding my emotions. But you probably already knew that. When I get nervous, I start to ramble and I tend to blurt things out. It's a defense mechanism. Basically, I don't know when to stop talking because the quiet also makes me nervous so I keep talking so that it's not so quiet and hopefully I'll end up saying something that's not completely stupid but actually quite interesting that will make others want to comment on. The problem with that though is that because I talk so fast, no one can get a word in edgewise, so I keep going and going and going. It's all because of this nervous habit of mine that I've had since I was a little kid. I never used to be so nervous around others. I never used to hate silence either. I don't like it any more. It's like if people aren't talking, they aren't moving. If they're not moving, they're not living. I like it when people are living. It scares me when people are dying because when they're dying, they're not moving and they're not talking and I don't like that. I don't like it at all. It scares me. I once had a friend a long long time ago who was dying and it scared me a lot. No one talked. No one moved. Everyone just stood around in silence, not moving, and they just watched as my friend was dying. I was scared because I didn't want him to die. I wanted him to talk, to say he was okay. I wanted him to move and jump around and laugh and smile like he did before, but he didn't. He didn't do any of that. He stopped moving. He just… stopped."

Popuri finally paused long enough to sniffle and wipe the tears that came to her eyes again.

"Who died?" I asked suddenly.

"What?" she turned to me as if noticing I was standing right next to her for the first time.

"You said that you had a friend who died. Who was it?" Popuri looked at me in shock. That's when I realized what I just asked. "Oh! I'm sorry, Popuri! That was rude of me! You don't have to answer that! Forget I asked!"

"My friend…" she whispered. "My friend who died… His name was –"

"POPURI!" Rick shouted. We had made it back to the Poultry Farm. Rick was standin at the gate, waiting for us to return.

"Rick!" Popuri rushed over to her brother. "I… I'm sorry I left Pon outside. You were right. I should've listened to you."

"And I shouldn't have yelled at you. I know that you didn't mean for Pon to get killed. I should've also remembered what seeing something like that does to you. I'm sorry as well. Can you ever forgive me? While you were gone, I went to the church to arrange a funeral for Pon. Pastor Carter will hold it as soon as you're ready."

Popuri nodded. "I'm ready. Let's say goodbye to Pon." Popuri looked back at me. "Thanks for everything Jack."

I nodded.

"Thanks as well," said Rick. "And remember, if you keep chickens, be careful of stray dogs."

I nodded again and they took off down the road. I waited a bit for them to get far enough ahead so that walking behind them wouldn't be awkward. It was still a couple hours till noon and I still wanted to check the town out. While I waited, I tried hard not to think about Popuri sleeping on me… with her… pushed up against me… feeling everything... Otherwise, my body would start reacting in a way I didn't want it to.

So to distract me from her body, I decided to focus on what she said. Then, something came to me._'Wait… Was she suggesting what I think she was suggesting?'_ The thought ran through my mind, causing me to lose focus for a couple of minutes.


	7. Y1Sp3P2 YodelHaySheYou

**Year 1: 3rd of Spring – Part 2**

Yodel-Hay-She-You

As I walked further down the road, I came to another place of residence. _'Yodel Ranch, huh…'_ the sign said. I guess it didn't hurt to check this place out. These were my neighbors after all. As I approached, I heard two people talking. One sounded like an old man. The other was a girl's voice, a young girl. It was a good thing too. I was beginning to freak out everytime I heard an older girls voice. They all seemed to just _throw_ themselves at me.

Back home, all the girls avoided me. Because of my job, I smelled like the animals. I was too "rustic" for them. Here? All the girls were attracted to me like fat kids on cake. It was unsettling. I couldn't handle going from one extreme to the other. Being avoided, or being heavily hit on, which was worse? If there was just one girl here who was normal, just one, that would make me happy. And I'm talking about a girl my age. Not one that's already married, divorced, widowed, or a minor. If any of those seriously hit on me, I'd probably just leave.

"Look at this pony, May. He sure doesn't look very happy. Do you think that he doesn't like it here? Is there not enough space for him to run around? Is it sick? Does it not like the food we're giving him? Why is this pony so sad?" the old man asked.

"Well, he's still just a pony. Maybe he's sad that he was separated from his parents. I was," May responded.

The old man stroked his chin. "That may be true… Even so, he doesn't look very spirited. Even if he's missing his parents, he should still be full of fire. It's the spirit of youth that's naturally in all you youngsters. When your parents left, you were sad, but you still managed to run around and give me grief. It's the same thing for all youngsters. This horse should be running around. That's a fact."

I eventually walked close enough for May to notice me.

"Oh! _Hi_ Jack…" May said. She blushed, folded her arms behind her back, while her foot spun back and forth on its toe. She was cute. Her hair was done in twin pigtails and it was nice and black. She wore a simple red dress with gold buttons down the front.

"Who's that, May?" the old man asked, adjusting his thick glasses. "My eyes aren't what they used to be."

"It's Jack…" May hid behind the old man. "Stu told me all about him. When Stu broke his leg, Jack used his super powers and healed it instantly. Stu told me that he moved in next door."

"Jack? Grandpa's grandson?" The old man kept adjusting his glasses until his eyes came into focus. "Oh yes! I can see the resemblance now. It's uncanny. So you moved onto Grandpa's farm? Good for you. I'm Barley Yodel and this is my granddaughter May." Barley extended his hand and I shook it. "Don't be shy May. Shake his hand as well."

May walked up to me and I shook her hand. Once I was done, she didn't let go. "It is customary for commoners to kiss the hands of _royalty_," she said, very uppity.

I was used to kinds since they like to hang out at the nursery. It was like a free petting zoo to them. "Oh! I'm terribly sorry Princess! I didn't know!" I said in shock. I bent down on one knee, bowed, and kissed her hand.

"You may rise," she said, uppity again. Then she giggled and started walking around me. Eventually, she stopped and looked at her grandpa. "Are you _sure _that the horse isn't happy?" she said very slyly as she started swinging my hand.

'_Oh, you little devil…' _I thought to myself. _'She's trying to pawn this horse off onto me!'_

Barley sighed. "The ranch has lots of horses and sheep and cows, so we can't trouble ourselves with just this one animal. Each of ours still needs their own attention individually. That's what makes an animal happy. In order to help this one, we'd have to ignore the others. We can't just abandon our responsibility to them. If we kept this one, we couldn't do much for him. Of course, we haven't factored that this could just be the horse's temperament. Even so… he _does _seem lonely…"

"I can take care of him!" May said, now climbing up my back to sit on my shoulders. She then took off my hat and placed it on her own head as she clung to my hair.

Barley smiled gently. "That's sweet May, but you're still young… Horses need someone older and stronger to take care of them. Plus, you might get hurt if he ever gets spooked or if you ever fell off of him. Say… Jack, do _you_ have a horse?

"Ha!" I cried out. "I just barely got this dog." Spot was sitting in front of the horse and they were just looking at each other.

"Well then, could you take care of this pony until it grows up? I'll pay you in some way. You don't have to do anything special. Just talk to him every day."

My mouth fell open. "I can't take care of a horse! I can barely take care of myself. Now, I have to take care of this dog, and you want to add taking care of a horse on _top _of that?"

"Well… it's either you, or we'd have to get rid of him. Who knows where he'll end up? You look like a good guy anyways. At least with you, I'd know that he was in good hands. After all, you share the same genes as Grandpa."

"Speaking of Grandpa, why is it that even _you _call him that?" I wondered.

"Oh…" Barley started laughing. "Everyone calls him Grandpa. Even us oldsters. That's just what we called him. So, whadja say? I'm telling you, you won't regret taking in this horse. Once he grows up more, he'll be able to help you out with your harvesting. And with good training, you can even enter him into the Horse Race next year. If he wins, you can earn a lot of money!"

I looked at the horse who was now looking at me the same way Spot did. I sighed. Maybe I was just a sucker. Or maybe I was just too good of a guy. " I'll take care of the pony…"

"Oh good! Isn't that nice, May? Everything will be just fine!"

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you Jack!" May now had her little hands in my mouth forcing me to grin. "You name him. Okay?"

"May…" I groaned, getting frustrated. Then my mind started to work against my will. "May – spring. Spring – summer, fall. Fall? August. August Rush. Rush? That sounds good. I'll name him Rush. That's a good name, right?"

"That's a _great_ name!" May clapped. Rush whinnied at this. "See? Rush like's it too!"

"Excellent! Excellent! Well… let me tell you how to care for the pony. He normally stays outside, but you need to bring him into the stable when it's raining. Also… he likes to be brushed. And please remember to talk to him every day."

"Wait!" I cried out. "I don't own a brush! And there's no way I can afford one either!"

"Is that so?" Barley stroked his chin. "Well, I see no harm in giving you one of mine. I'll just consider it as payment for taking this horse off my hands." Barley walked over to his stables and picked up one of his brushes. Then he walked over and handed it to me. "Here ya go. I guess that should be it then. So… if there's nothing else, I guess I'll just take him to the stable at your farm."

I bent down and picked up Spot and set him on Rush's back. "I'm leaving you in charge. Watch over Rush. Make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble, okay?"

Spot barked and stood at attention again. May laughed at this.

"Good boy," I patted his head. Then I walked over to stand in front of Rush. "Don't cause too much trouble, okay?"

Rush whinnied. "Good. I'll see you two later."

Barley started leading the two back to the farm. "Goodbye, Rush!" May waved at the two of them.

"Okay May, it's time to get down," I said, picking her up and lifting her off my shoulders.

"Aww…" she moaned.

"Can I have my hat back?" I asked.

She took it off and handed it back to me. "Will you come back and visit?" she asked.

"Course," I said. "You can even come by and visit me if you want."

"Yay!" she jumped up and started skipping around. "I'll see you later Jack!"

She waved at me while I continued to explore the town.


	8. Y1Sp3P3 Family Jewel

**Year 1: 3rd of Spring – Part 3**

Family Jewel

Directly north of Yodel Ranch was Rose Square. I had passed through this that first day as well.

To the right would be the path to the beach and the pier. The nice thing I can say about that is how clean it was. Back in the city, all the beaches you went to were full of broken glass as cigarette butts. You had to wear water socks or sandals the whole time or risk cutting your feet open. I wouldn't even put it past those beaches to have needles buried in them. There was none of that in Mineral Beach. The sand there was nice and clean. It was a good place.

Straight ahead was the Chapel. It was undoubtedly the tallest building in Mineral Village, if only because of its bell tower with spire on top of that. I could even see it all the way from my home, and my home was the farthest geographically from the Chapel. At noon and at six p.m. the Chapel bell would ring and announce the time to the whole village. It was a lot nicer to hear than a rooster.

To my left was where I was heading. I hadn't been that way yet. I could see a two story building off that way, but I had no idea what it was. As I made my way over there, I came across a billboard just before the square turned into a path. On the board was a sign that said:

Notice For

"The Spring Goddess Festival"

When: The eighth of spring from ten a.m. on

Where: Rose Square

Spring has come! – The mayor

'_The Spring goddess Festival, eh? I wonder what that's all about…' _I pondered as I continued down the path. Like most of the ones in the main part of the village, this was also cobblestone. Street lamps lined the sides to light the way at night. That was about it. This place was so rustic that it was beautiful with all the trees and bushes within arm's reach. Eventually, I came up to the building. The sign had Doug's Place on it and that it was open from eight in the morning till nine at night.

All in all, it looked like Doug's Place was an inn. This must be where the village gathers at night or to party or to get wasted. Hopefully, this was a place where I could get good food. I walked up to and opened the double doors. The first thing that I saw was a red headed girl bent over a table wiping it down. She was wearing overall shorts that were so short, her butt was practically hanging out of them. And I thought Karen was bad! Compared to this girl, Karen was a nun!

Her long smooth legs were separated just enough to give me a nosebleed. I tried to look anywhere else, but I couldn't look away from her body. So I decided to focus on a part of her that wasn't giving me a raging hard on. Her hair was long. Too long in fact. That fell down to her lower back. It was in a ponytail and braided all the way down to the tip. I hated the fact that girls with ponytails also turned me on.

"Welcome!" the girl said to me without even looking my way. She was_ really_ focused on cleaning that table. "I'll be with you in a moment. Please take your time!"

I was saved from my animalistic instincts by someone clearing their throat. I turned to my right and saw a man with slicked back red hair as well with matching moustache. He wore a long sleeved button down white shirt with a brown vest over it. I looked around me to see if there was anyone else in the inn. There wasn't. So I looked back over at the guy and pointed at myself. He nodded and motioned me over with his finger. I slowly approached him, fully expecting a shotgun in the face.

The red headed guy leaned over the counter. "Say, you're Jack, the guy who took over Grandpa's farm, right? Since you're new to the village and all, could you… uhm… humor me for a second?"

"Do I have a choice?" I tentatively asked.

"I just want to ask a question is all. A simple harmless question… Whadja say?"

Hoping he wasn't going to ask what I was afraid he was going to ask, I slowly said, "Okay?"

"Great! Well… Um… How do I put this? You see… that girl there is my daughter Ann, and… Er… Well… W-what do you think of her?" he asked shyly.

I had to refrain from exhaling. I thought he was going to be pissed off for sure that I was eyeing her. Instead, he just wanted to know what I thought of her. I looked back at her and immediately regretted it.

From this angle, I could see her from the side. She wasn't just wiping down the table with a cloth. Her breasts were doing most of the work. My mouth nearly hit the floor, letting my tongue roll out all over the place. Her breasts were huge as well! Almost if not the same size as Karen's! What the heck was the village feeding these girls?

Ann had an hourglass figure. Big boobs, round butt, skinny waist, and long legs. The overall shorts that she wore, though _definitely _short, somewhat hid her waist… at least from the back. From the sides, they were revealed for the world to see because underneath her overalls was only a baby rib crop yellow tee. They barely contained those milk monsters! From here, I could even see her belly button.

I turned back towards Ann's father with a wiry grin on my face, my eyes bugging out, and sweating profusely. "I-I-I'm af-afraid I-I c-c-can't answer that, S-S-Sir," I stutterd.

"What? Why not?" the man demanded.

"Well… If I say I like her, you'll think I have a thing for her. If I say that I don't like her, you'll demand why you're daughter's not good enough."

"That's a very diplomatic answer," the man stroked his chin.

"Thank you, Sir." I wiped my forehead.

"I _hate_ diplomatic answers!" he seethed. "I just want to know what you think of her. _Not_ if you like her or not. That can come later. So give me the honest truth this time, or else," he sneered.

"She's –" _'Don't say sexy! Don't say sexy! Don't say sexy!'_ I quickly thought. "… cute."

The man scrutinized me for a bit, then sat back. "Oh… well that's good." The man wiped his forehead from relieve. Then she smiled and stuck out his hand. "I'm Doug, by the way. This here's my place. As for my daughter… Well, as you can see, she's a bit of a tomboy for her age. Just look at what she's dressed in. Overalls for crying out loud! Why, all the other girls are wearing dresses, except for that _slut_ Karen. Ann should be wearing dresses too. But _no…_ She had to go and hang out with that _Karen _when she was little. That messed her up good."

My eyes were literally wide with shock.

"It's a good thing that those two don't speak to each other anymore. I'd hate to see how much more that _slut _could destroy my perfect angel. You see, she's got a great figure, but she's not that smart. That's why I buy her clothes that are purposefully too small for her. If I left things to her, she's be single the rest of her days. Like I said, she's too much of a tomboy. Her mother was a little quieter and more feminine… But she passed away _years_ before Ann ever knew what a period was.

"I had to raise her all by myself, you see? Not only that, I had to provide a roof over our heads and food on our tables. It was a hard life for us. Most of the time, I couldn't even watch her at all. I was so busy. It was at those times that she would either play with her friends outside, or learn from drunken patients at night. I thank the Goddess every night she was blessed with her mother's looks. If she turned out like me, I'd kill myself.

"You're the only one it seems that's even noticed my daughter. All the other boys must be gay. When she comes around, they treat her like a little brother, just like all the older men treat her like one of their daughters. It's disgusting! No one is helping her get laid in the slightest!"

I started choking on my own spit.

"Well… I don't mean like that," Doug continued. "I mean they're not helping her learn the skills she needs to become a good wife and mother. To everyone else, it seems like she's just 'one of the guys'. She's not thought! She's my only daughter! Plus, I'm getting on in years. I want to have grandchildren sometime before I die. Since you're the only one here who at least has the balls to notice my daughter's body, you might as well become my son-in-law right now!

"Heck, I got Pastor Carter speed dial. He can set up a wedding in no time. I mean, you're the grandson of Grandpa, so you must be alright. Plus, you don't look like a social retard like Saibara's grandson does. Nor do you look like a nerd like Rick. The doctor is too stoic. He's probably the gayest of the bunch. But you! You have balls Jack! My daughter needs a good pair of balls in her life.

"I'm glad you said what you said. So what's it going to be? Are you going to be the father of my grandchildren, or are you going to be just another pussy in this village? We got a lot of pussy here. What we need is more balls. And balls you got."

I stared at Doug, wide eyed. "You're freakin' nuts…" I mumbled.

"You got that right!" Doug laughed. "My wife loved me for my nuts! I wasn't some whiney, sissy baby like Jeff is! When I saw my wife for the first time, I went up to her and I was like, 'Hey! Take a look at these –'"

"What are you talking about?" Ann suddenly asked standing right next to me.

"It's a private matter," Doug grunted, "men's business. Why don't you get back in the kitchen and try your hand at cooking again."

"Oh… Dad!" Ann cried out. "You're trying to pawn me off on one of the customers again! I told you, I'm perfectly capable of getting a husband myself!"

"Well, then what's the hold up?" Doug shouted. "I'm not getting any younger here! You're sixteen years old! I should have four or five grandchildren by now!"

"This isn't the fourteen hundreds, Dad!" Ann shouted back. "Girls like me don't get pregnant at twelve anymore! I'm not a whore, willing to throw herself at just anybody! I'm _actually _waiting for the right guy to come along!"

"Right guy?" Doug wondered. "Well, what about Jack here?"

Ann turned towards me as if noticing me for the first time. "Jack? You – here… Talking to Dad… about marrying me? DAD! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME? I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU SO MUCH!"

Ann took off and ran through the back door. As it swung open, heavenly aromas wafted out. Doug looked sad.

"Uh oh… I think I've done it now."

"Oh, I'm sure she'll get over it," I tried to console him.

"Jack, have you ever been in love before?" Doug asked.

"Uh… no?" was all I could say.

"Do you have a sister?"

"No."

"Female cousins?"

"Nope."

"Then let me tell you this, son. When a girl is upset with you, she will remember it her whole life. If you don't apologize or grovel for her forgivness, if you just pass off a girls temper without doing anything to reconcile it, she will continue to hold that grudge until the day you die. The thing with Ann is that she is _exceptionally_ stubborn. Unfortuneately, she got that trait from me. Her mother was the only one who could humble me into seeing the error of my ways. Next to her and Ann, I was _always _wrong. Everyone else, I'm right, but to them I'm _always _wrong. Do you get me, son?"

"I… think so. So what are you going to do about Ann?"

"Me?" Doug laughed. "Not me, boy. You."

"Me?" I cried out. "Why me?"

"If you want a child to forgive you, give them ice cream. If you want a boy to forgive you, send a pretty girl his way. If you want a girl to forgive you, do the opposite. Let's face it Jack, you're one good looking guy. Not as good looking as I was when I was your age, but still good looking none the less.

"I'm sure Ann thinks so too. That's why she was so embarrassed. If you're next to you, she wouldn't want you to see anything but her good side. Trust me on this one. I know how the world works. That's why I run this inn. If I did anything else, the world would implode upon itself. I stand here behind this counter, offering drinks and meals and occasionally advice to those who ask for it, because if I didn't everything would be thrown outta whack.

"So good luck when you go into Ann's room. The Goddess knows _I_ would never go in there. Living is just too darn fun."

I gulped, hard. "Gee, thanks for that."

"You're welcome," Doug didn't need to say but said anyways.

I slouched over and through the back door. In the next room was indeed the kitchen. Though nothing was cooking, because of all the meals made here, it must've permanently smelled like this. It just reminded me of how little I'd eaten since I got here. I looked around the kitchen until I found a door that said, 'Ann's Room: Keep Out! (That means you, Dad!)'. That was probably the first inclination that I saw that suggested Ann was a tomboy.

I walked over to the door and knocked on it.

"GO AWAY, DAD! I DON'T WANT TO SPEAK TO YOU EVER AGAIN!" Ann yelled from behind the door.

"It's me, Jack," I said from the other side.

"Jack? Oh… Wait! Just a second! Let me… clean up a bit!" From the noises that she was making, it sounded like a bull in a china shop. I probably spent the next ten minutes listening to this go on. The whole time, she kept shouting that she was almost ready and for me not to go. Frankly, I'd had enough estrogen this morning with Popuri. I didn't need anymore. Although… I was more than curious to see what the inside of a girl's room looked like, even a tomboy's.

When Ann finally opened her door, my eyes once again bulged out of my head. Ann was wearing nothing but a towel. It took all of my will power to turn away. "I… I'm sorry. Is now a bad time?"

"Oh, no! I was just going to take a bath to help me relax, but that can wait! Please, come in!"

Before I could do anything, Ann grabbed my hand and yanked me inside and slammed the door behind me. My first look at Ann's room was unexpected. Now I believed Doug when he said his daughter was a tomboy. Her room was full of video games, comic books, manga, and anime. Her room looked just like what I'd wished mine looked like if I had the money to buy stuff.

Her walls were covered with posters of superhero movies that had come out, dragons fighting adventurers, anime characters, and dozens and dozens of pictures of her and her friends. Her shelves were stacked full of anime, movies, and video games. Most, if not all, of her manga littered her floor. She had other books as well that filled other bookshelves. One shelf was dedicated purely to Dungeons and Dragons!

Along the wall opposite her bed sat a huge flat screen TV with just as big a surround sound system. In the entertainment center that the TV sat on were nearly every video game console known to man. It was ridiculous what this girl had. The inn must be doing _very_ well for her to afford all this stuff.

When I turned to look at her bed, I got the biggest surprise of all. Sitting in a corner up against the bed frame was an actual sword and shield. Not only that, I had to rub my eyes to make sure I was seeing this correctly, on the floor was a legit platemail bikini. I was actually hyperventilating. I think I was actually suffering from a heart attack because instead of running out to Doug and begging for him to let me marry Ann, I just let her lead me over to her bed.

My eyes were so out of focus that Ann had to literally grab my face and turn it to face hers. When my eyes focused on her in her towel, I could see that she was looking depressed. "You're shocked, I know," she mumbled. "You're actually the first guy who's ever been inside my room. I can tell from your face that you think the same way about me as all the other guys do, that I'm just another one of the guys…"

"What?" I cried out. "No!"

"You don't?" Ann looked up at me in amazement.

"Of course," I said truthfully. "I don't know you well enough to make any judgements about you one way or the other."

"Oh," Ann said, not knowing what to think about that. "I guess I can give you that. Well… actually, that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."

"It is?" I asked.

"Yeah!" Ann was growing more and more excited. "Everyone else always tells me either what I want to hear or what they think I'd like to hear. No one's ever really told me the truth before. Well… there was one person, but that was it. In fact, it's thanks to that person that I'm the way I am. He introduced me to all this stuff and I _really_ liked it! The only thing is, my dad and the other guys don't really understand what I'm into…"

"No, this stuff is pretty sweet!" I said, looking at Ann's stuff once again. "I love all of this stuff too! Coming from the city, I used to play video games, watch anime, and read manga all the time! I never owned any of it because I couldn't afford it… but if I could've I would've! I'm _totally_ jealous of you right now!"

I looked back at Ann to see that she was once again looking down. "So you _do _just see me as one of the guys…"

"What? No… I seriously don't," I mumbled.

"Yeah right!" Ann said, growing angry. "Why should I believe you? You're probably just like every other guy here! What could I possibly have that would make anyone see me as anything but a guy?"

"_Oh… I can think of a couple things…"_ I mumbled to myself.

"What?" Ann asked, obviously hearing what I said.

"Listen…" I stood up and scratched the back of my head as I moved away from her, "I'm not really comfortable saying."

"Oh, _please_!" Ann said, jumping in front of me. "I promise I won't laugh or anything! I know what my dad says about me. He's embarrassed that I'm not as feminine as Elli or Popuri. Even I know that Karen is the prettiest girl here. I bet he wishes that one of them was his daughter instead of me. _Please_, if there's _anything _about me that guy's would like, tell me! I need to know that I have some redeeming quality after all!"

"YOUR BODY!" I blurted out.

"My… _what_?" Ann was shocked.

"You have a _gorgeous_ body. That should be proof enough that you're a woman. Who cares what you're into? What you like is what you like and no one should judge you about it! As long as you don't spit or do drugs or smoke, I don't see why you'd have any problem getting a boyfriend. All you need to do is continue to have good hygiene and men should be falling for you left and right."

Ann started blushing. "You mean… you're attracted to my body?"

I blushed as well. I couldn't even say yes.

"You don't think my boobs are too big?" she asked, lifting them a bit.

My nose started bleeding and I shook my head furiously.

"You don't think my waist is too thin or my butt to round?"

Again, I shook my head furiously.

"Wow…" she wondered. "No one's ever complimented me on my body before… And you don't find my interests to dumb for a girl?"

I was starting to grow dizzy from shaking my head too much.

"Oh, thank you Jack! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You've made me the happiest girl in the village!" With that, Ann jumped on me and gave me a hug. That's when I heard something flap to the floor.

I gulped hard and looked up at the ceiling while my hands were as far apart as they could get. "Uh… Ann? I think your towel came off…"

"What?" Ann released me a bit and looked down. "Oh… so it has…"

"Ann? Are you okay in here Sweetie?" Doug asked, bursting into the room.

Ann immediately turned us so that I was covering her from her dad. "DAD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE? GET OUT!" she shouted in my ear.

"IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE, SIR! I SWEAR!" I shouted as well.

I couldn't see what Doug was doing, but I heard him say, _"Oh…"_ as if he just walked in on Santa leaving gifts under his tree. He cleared his throat. "I'll, uh… let you two get back to… er… whatever it was you were about to do." And with that, he closed the door behind him.

"Geez…" Ann groaned. "That man… Honestly!" Then she just let go of me and bent down to pick up her towel. Once release, I quickly turned away from her to avoid seeing anything. I swear, these girls were going to be the death of me.

"You can turn around now," Ann whispered in my ear softly, sending shivers through my body. When I did so, she was wrapped in her towel again, but she was giggling. "So… It seems like I can turn a guy on after all."

My hands quickly covered my tent. "Hey! That's not cool!" I shouted. "This is wrong on _so_ many levels. This isn't one of your manga's! Things like this happen in anime's, _not_ real life! It's times like this where you really _should_ act like a girl!"

"And where would the fun be in that?" Ann placed her hands on her hips. "_Besides_, you're cute when you're embarrassed… and horny."

I snarled.

Ann walked up to me, stood on her tiptoes, placed her hand on my cheek, and pulled me forward to kiss my other one. Then, she whispered, "Is that girl enough for you?" in my ear.

This girl was evil, _pure _evil. She wasn't a clueless tomboy! She knew all the right things to do to get the reaction she wanted! I _especially_ hated how the reaction she wanted were the _exact _ones I didn't want to give! I walked out of her room still holding myself. Once in the kitchen, I moved over to the freezer and opened it. There, inside, were the keys to my salvation. I reached in and shoved a handful of ice into my boxers.

Once the ice had melted and I was back under control, I walked back out into the main room where Doug was laughing behind his counter. When he saw me, he ran up to me in a flash and shook my hand wildly. "Thank you, Boy! You've made me the proudest dad in the whole village!"

"Y-Y-You'r n-n-not m-m-mad," I said as clearly as I could while I was being shaken to death.

"Mad? Heck Boy, I could kiss ya! To think, my own daughter… naked in her room with another boy! I never thought I'd see the day…"

"You're all insane!" I said, shaking my head.

"You've just earned yourself a week of free meals!" Doug said, picking me up and giving me a bear hug.

'_Then again…' _ I thought to myself. _'A week of free meals….' _"It was my pleasure, Sir!" I beamed and hugged Doug back, tears coming to my eyes at the thought of food in my belly.

When Doug finally released me, I wobbled over to the door, my back having been crushed. "Come back _anytime_! And I do mean _anytime… son_…" he shouted and waved as I fell through the double doors in order to get outside.


	9. Y1Sp3P4 Book Wyrm

**Year 1: 3rd of Spring – Part 4**

Book Wyrm

As I hit the cobblestone, the doors to Doug's place closed with a snap. I rolled over onto my back and let the warm stones melt away the pain. It was there, on my back, that I saw a reddening sky over head. The sun was already starting to go down. Time seemed to fly by in this place and I didn't know why. They say time flies when you're having fun or keeping yourself busy. Well, I haven't been having fun and I certainly wouldn't call what I did today 'keeping busy'.

When I rolled over and got to my feet, I was startled to see Karen just a few feet away. "Hi Jack," she said gloomily.

"Hey, Karen. What's up?" I asked nonchalantly.

"Oh… nothing. I thought you were hurt, so I came over to see if you needed help. But I see now that I was mistaken. I'll just go home now."

For some reason, I felt really bad. "Hey, you okay?" I asked. "What's wrong?"

"No." Karen shook her head. Her hair flew all over the place. "I've caused you enough trouble already. I'm just bad news waiting to happen."

"What? Are you still upset about yesterday?" I asked. "You know, looking back, you're the only normal girl I've met so far."

"Normal?" Tears started to well up in Karen's eyes. "You call what I did to you yesterday _normal_?"

"Well… compared to all the other girls that I've met… yeah." I shrugged my shoulders.

The tears suddenly stopped. "Really?"

I chuckled. "Yeah."

Karen wiped her eyes. "Who else have you met?"

"Come on," I said, walking over and placing an arm around her shoulder, "I'll tell you about it on the way home.

It was funny. Compared to everyone else, I _actually _felt comfortable around Karen. By process of elimination, Karen had become the most normal girl by default. It was odd. Back home, I would _never_ have been so bold with such a beautiful girl. But here? In this small village? I actually felt both attraction and repulsion. I was attracted to how calm and peaceful everything was when it wasn't hectic. But that hectic part had a sort of romance to it as well. People weren't afraid of being themselves here. Not like those in the city. Everyone there was as fake as they could get. Their personalities, their emotions, even their bodies… All of it was fake.

Everything here was homegrown, down to earth, and natural. But that was also the reason why I was so repulsed. Sometimes, the people could do a little bit more to hide their natural selves and be a little more fake. They weren't just open books. They were more like, 'I'm going to tie you to a chair and force you to listen to my life story whether you like it or not'. They only this is that their life story included audience participation.

I didn't know whether I should get used to this. Sure, it was a breath of fresh air compared to the city. Actually, it was more like an oxygen mask to mustard gas. Still, could I handle everyone as they are naturally? Mayor Thomas was useless. Zack was pushy. Karen had no concept of personal space. Jeff was a wimp. The doctor was prideful. Duke was proud. Sasha was too assertive. Elli was a heavy flirt. Stu was reckless. Rick was bossy. Popuri was an emotional train wreck. Barley was nearly senile. May was a handful. Ann was a gender confused bombshell with no concept of modesty. Duke was flat out crazy. This whole village had problems.

But… if I really thought about it, this place wasn't so different from the city. It just felt it was because it was so small. In the city, there was so many of these kinds of people that they seemed like they didn't exist at all. One ant crawling in front of you can be easily spotted, but when you know that the whole earth is covered with billions of them, you don't really care. That's what it was like here. The people weren't bad. _I _was.

I was holding everyone to my messed up standards never thinking that I should just join them. I _hated _the city. Why was I missing it so much? Nobody gave a rat's fart about me back home. Why was I so opposed to people opening up to me here? Sure, I didn't really understand myself. People here did, or at least, I'm pretty sure they did. They certainly act like they did sometimes… or was that because I looked so much like my grandpa? Either way, if I left because I they were just being themselves, how would I ever discover who I really was?

I needed to try harder to accept everyone as they were. I needed to open myself to them as well. Hopefully, I was doing that now as I had my arm wrapped around a pretty girl. I'm pretty sure I was. She was resting her head on my shoulder as we walked. There was one problem I could foresee though… How could I open myself up to everyone if I didn't know who I was?

"Well, are you going to tell me who else you've met?" Karen snapped me out of my reverie.

"Oh, right! Well, after I met you, I met Elli. I'm not entirely sure, but I'm pretty sure she was hitting on me the whole time she was giving me a checkup. It was weird because no one has ever been that forward with me before. Girls usually avoid me like the black plague. This morning, I met Popuri. When she's nervous, she cannot shut up. She basically laid out her whole life story right then and there. She's also crazy strong when she's emotionally distraught. Then there's Ann. I just met Ann. She'd be cool and all, as long as she's got clothes on. It was like she wasn't even aware that she was a girl standing in front of a guy."

"Is that it?" Karen asked.

"Yeah. Why?" I wondered.

"You sure that there aren't any more girls you've met?" Karen pressed.

"Well… there was May. She made me treat her like she was a princess. But she's like five so it was understandable. Other than that… there was your mom. That's it. No one else."

Karen placed her head back on my shoulder. "Hmm…" she mumbled. "Well, if those are they only girls that you've met, then that's okay. And I can see why from what they've done, I _would_ be the most normal girl. Elli? She's always been a flirt. Popuri? She's never really been able to recover from her childhood. Ann? Well… if she could help it, she'd be a full blown guy. Her dad though, over compensates Ann's tomboyishness by getting her slutty clothes."

I smiled. "That's funny, because Doug blames you for turning Ann into a whore."

"Yeah, go figure." Karen rolled her eyes. "Ann and I used to be best friends, but something came between us and Doug's never liked me since. Because of that, there's been a war between our families for _years._ I can see how he'd blame me for Ann's problems. Truth be told, that whole family's messed up. I think the main reason why Doug's Place does so well is because all the men go there to check Ann out."

"Yeah…" I zoned out, remembering Ann naked.

"Hey! Snap out of it!" Karen said, snapping right in front of my face. "Remember, you're with me right now."

"Yeah, but we're also in front of the Supermarket," I told her.

"Oh…" Karen whined as she pulled away from me. "Well… we can hang out in my room for a bit, if you want. I promise I won't flash you like the whore did."

I smiled. "I think I've had enough estrogen for one day. I'm just going to head back home."

"Oh… okay." Karen drooped. "Thanks for walking me home, and talking with me. It was nice."

"It was nice, wasn't it?" I agreed. "Well, see ya." I took off and started walking back home. It wasn't until I was a good ways away when I finally heard the door to the Supermarket open and close.

When I rounded the corner to head south back home, I stopped in front of the Library. That's when the idea came to me to check out a book on farming and raising animals. The sign said it closed at four. I looked at my watched and saw that it was five. Sighing, I almost took off walking again when I heard someone scream inside. It wasn't a scream of terror or pain. It was one that sounded more like frustration.

Regardless of the time, I walked up to the Library door and tried the handle. It turned and the door opened. I walked in. Inside, the Library consisted of two floors with walls lined with bookshelves filled with books. The building was circular with the second floor connecting to the building next door. In the middle of the room was a spiral staircase that connected the floors, and on the main floor was a desk with a girl sitting behind it.

The girl behind the desk had long black hair that was only held together at the end. She wore thin rectangular glasses with thick black frames that really stood out on her face. Her face was thin and pretty, and had a sophisticated look about it. She wore a modest blue dress with a white shirt underneath that hugged the curves on her body. All in all, this girl pulled off the sexy librarian look to the tee.

As I approached her, I heard her mumble, "There used to be nothing there but weeds…"

"Excuse me…" I interrupted her concentration. "What are you writing?"

The girl was shocked to see me standing there. "Were you listening just then? Oh, I know you! You're Jack! You took over Grandpa's farm, right?"

"That's right," I said. "So, what are you writing there?"

The girl sighed. "You startled me… I'm writing a novel, or… at least I'm _trying _to write a novel. Right now, it's just a hobby because I don't think I'll ever write something well enough to get published. My problem is, since I'm surrounded by books, I compare what I write to them. That's why I think everything I write sucks. It's just that… once I get a pen in my hand I tune everything else out.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Mary. I run the Library." Mary took off her glasses and stood to shake my hand. After I shook it, she sat back down and put her glasses back on. "It's the best job in the whole world because of how much I love books. Before I took it over, I used to come in here every day and just read read read. I was so quiet when I read that the previous owner forgot that I was still in here on more than one occasion when they closed the building.

"So, when I became old enough, I took over the place. By that time, I'd read every book in here. The only thing left to do was write one of my own. I keep starting over though. I've never finished a single book of mine, though my main story that I'm writing I've redone it three times already. Each time I've rewritten it, I've become a much better writer. This last version is the one. When I'm done, I'm going to publish it. But first, I have to make it perfect, and that's what I'm struggling with."

"What's your story on?" I asked, thoroughly curious.

"Well… it's loosely based off my life while in a fantasy setting. I got the idea off my favorite writer because that's what he did. The first book he ever published is called Paths of Fate: Mists of Darkness. I must've read it a dozen times at least. I strive to be as good as him one day, but I know it's probably a long shot. He's so amazing and I'm… not."

"You can't say that," I told her.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Don't they say that you are your worst critic? You should just write the best book you can, then publish it and let the reader decide. And even if some of them don't like what you've written. At least you've written a book, and that's not something everyone can claim. Plus, you're doing what you love, and that's something that everyone wish they had as well."

"Wow… thank you for that," Mary said, sitting back in her chair. "Are you a novelist as well? You have such a beautiful way with words."

"No…" I blushed and scratched the back of my head. "I just love reading books as well. I did a lot of that while I was in the hospital."

"That's too bad," she sincerely said. "I think you would do an excellent job at it. You must be a very good story teller."

I chuckled. "I've never tried before, but that sounds like something I might try. So… this author who wrote this Paths of Fate book? Is it a must read?"

"Oh yes! Definitely!" she said with enthusiasm.

"Any other authors you recommend?"

"Well… there's FantasyNerd86. That's his pen name by the way. His stuff is _always _worth checking out. His writing style is… I don't even know how to describe it. It's like… when he writes, I _become _the character. I understand what the character is going through and I can feel what they feel. He's really good at playing with my emotions. There are times when I get so angry that I have to stop reading until I can calm myself down enough to pick it up again. Then there are times when I'm just laughing so are I can barely breathe. He's _really_ good at what he does."

"Sweet!" I said, growing excited. "I'll have to check out those books as well. But, other than that, do you have any books that can help me become a better farmer, or at least with teach me how to farm and raise animals at all?"

"Oh, yes! You can find those books on the second floor next to the door. The Library should be closed right now, but I'll make this exception for you since you've entertained me. Just don't go through the door on the second floor, alright?"

"No problem," I said already making my way up. True to her word, the last bookshelf had dozens of books on farming. There was a volume on chickens, cows, sheep, fish, and horses individually. There were also volumes on the three seasons you can grow crops in, what crops you can grow in those seasons, and the pros and cons on greenhouses. There were even volumes on how to train dogs, and extensions you can add on to your farm. I had to resist taking everything off the shelves at once.

I was about to pull out a book on spring crops when something caught my eye. On the floor, wedged between the bookshelf and the wall, was what looked like a manga book. I stooped down and picked it up.

'_HOLY COW!'_ I shouted in my head. _'THIS IS HENTAI! I'M HOLDING SMUT IN MY HANDS!'_

Wanting to know where it came from and where to put it back, I looked around the room. None of the shelves held any manga books. I would have noticed that first thing. Then I looked at the door. It was open a crack and dark inside from what I could see.

'_That must be where this came from,'_ I thought as I held the hentai book as if it were radioactive material. _'No wonder Mary didn't want me to go through that door, it's full of adult material. Well… I don't think she'll mind if I put this back. I _am_ an adult after all.'_

I walked over to the door and snuck in. When I found the light switch and flipped it, I saw that it wasn't the adult section at all. It was a bedroom and there was hentai all over the floor. The worst part of all this wasn't the Japanese porn all over the place. That was bad, sure. But the worst of it was that the Japanese porn was all S and M.

The door snapped shut behind me. I jumped and turned around. There was Mary. She took of her glasses and hung them on her shirt so that they were hanging in-between her breasts. Then she undid the scrunchy at the end of her hair and shook it so that it became wild and loose. Then she pulled it back until it was in a tighter ponytail.

"I told you not to come up here, Jack," she said in a cold, hard voice instead of her smooth passionate one she used when talking about books.

"I… I'm sorry!" I stuttered. I don't know why, but I was scared out of my mind. "I found this on the ground! I was just trying to return it to where it belonged! I swear!"

"Oh, I believe you," Mary said as she slowly walked forward. I would have sighed with relief if Mary wasn't looking at me with hungry eyes and undoing her blouse so that more of her cleavage showed. "The problem is that you now know my secret. I can't just let that slide. You need to be punished."

"Punished? Mary… you're freaking me out! What do you mean punished?" I had back up as far as I could until I hit the opposite wall. I almost started crying, I was so scared. This entire scenario was freaky.

"Oh… I'm not Mary," Mary whispered. "Mary's no longer here."

This just kept getting worser by the minute. "You… you're not?" I stupidly asked. "Well then, who are you?"

Mary cackled an evil laugh. "Silly Jack. My name is Maria. You'll know it well enough. Welcome to Hell." After she said that, she leaped at me.

I jumped in fright and knew nothing more.

When I woke up, the first thing I felt was a lump on my head. The next thing I noticed was that I was shackled to the wall by pink fluffy cuffs around my wrists. I was _actually_ hanging off the floor. Having said that, the next thing I realized was that I was wearing nothing but my boxers. I also had 'Maria plus Jack forever' written on my chest in red lipstick with a heart round it. If peeing myself would relieve me of the fear I had, I would have done it ages ago. Unfortunately, the only thing in my system right now was the sandwich I ate this morning.

With a slight creak, I lifted my head to see Mary sitting in a chair in front of me. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun now. She was also wearing a black leather corset with black leather knee high boots, spiked bracelets, and a collar around her neck with a chain hanging between her breasts. In her hands was a whip that she snapped occasionally between her hands.

"I see that you're finally awake," she said once again in that cold, sultry voice. "Good. This wouldn't have been fun otherwise."

"Mary… _why_ are you doing this?" I pleaded.

"I already told you, I'M… NOT… MARY!" she stood up and shouted.

"OKAY! MARIA! I'M SORRY!" I cried out.

"That's better." She sat back down again.

"Why I are you doing this?" I asked again.

"Uh uh…" Maria waved the whip back and forth. "You have to ask nicely if you want to get anywhere in life."

"Why are you doing this… _please_?" I said like a retard scared out of his mind.

"Nope. One more try, then after that you get ten lashings."

I was seriously freaking out here. Then my eyes traveled to all the S and M hentai on the ground and understood what she was asking. "Master? Can you please this naughty boy why you are doing this to him?"

"Hmm… good," she purred. She then walked up to me and stroked my chest with the back of her fingers. The feeling would have felt _totally_ sensual if I wasn't about to go insane. Then she squeezed my face and licked my neck all the way up to my ear where she lingered for a bit by sucking my lobe. When she released me, she slapped me across the face and walked away.

"I'm doing this because you are a very naughty boy who deserves to be punished. Mary specifically told you not to come in here, but you didn't listen to her. Now look what happened. You released me since you found out my secret. But… then again, I'm a naughty girl as well. You are my prisoner and I must punish you, but in doing so, I too need to be punished. It's just that no one cares about Maria. No one even knows that she exists. Mary is the only one who believes in me and now everyone avoids her, us… because they think that we're crazy.

"That's why they locked us in this tower, to hide us away from the rest of the world. And here we waited for our prince charming to come along. Instead, we got _you_. You didn't listen to Mary. Now you think she's crazy as well because you see Maria in front of your eyes. Why do you think that?" Maria cried out. Then she pulled the whip back. "WHY DON'T YOU LIKE US?"

"I DO LIKE YOU!" I quickly lied to stop Maria from whipping me.

"You… you do?" she asked, looking a bit like Mary. But then her face changed back into Maria. "YOU LIAR!" Her hand pulled back again.

"NO! IT'S TRUE!" I shouted.

Maria's hand lowered halfway. "Prove it," she said skeptically.

"You… You're hot! I mean, look at you! You're looking super sexy right now dressed in all leather! And Mary… the way she wears those glasses and dress is a total knock out! The two of you are the catch of the town! Why, if anyone were to go after you, they'd get a sexy librarian as well! If anyone were to go after Maria, they'd get a smoking hot minx! It's a win-win for everyone!" I was out of breath. I couldn't find anything more to lie about. Hopefully, this crazy bi- believed me.

The leather whip dropped from her hand and she ran up to me. I fully expected Maria to claw my eyes out, but instead she latched on to me, her leg raised. "Oh, Jack! Finally, someone who understands me! I knew you were the one we were meant to be with! Just knew it!"

"Does… does that mean you'll let me go?" I tentatively asked.

"Oh no! Oh no no no no no! I couldn't _possibly _do _that_! If I let you go, you'd just run away and I'd never see you again! No, I must keep you here forever! That way, no one could _ever _separate us!"

That was it. I finally snapped. In order to free myself, I had to fully engross myself into this sick person's fantasy. When we first started, I was but the pet. Now _I_ needed to be the master.

"ENOUGH!" I shouted in Maria's face. She fell to the ground and coward in fear. "YOU'VE BEEN A NAUGHTY GIRL AND MUST BE PUNISHED! REMOVE ME FROM THESE SHACKLES SO THAT I MAY BIND _YOU _WITH THEM! I WILL TEACH YOU A LESSON THAT YOU WON'T SOON FORGET!"

"Yes, Master!" Maria jumped up and quickly unshackled my wrists. "I_ have _been a bad girl and must needs be punished! Punish Maria! Punish me!"

"SHUT UP!" I screamed at her. She shut up. When both shackles had been undone, I stumbled forward, then turned around and pointed right back at them. "GET IN THERE! _NOW!_" I screamed even harder.

Maria quickly grabbed a soap box to stand on so that her wrists could reach the cuffs. She then ran back and stood in place, waiting for her master to bind her and teach her a lesson. With her hands in place, I quickly did so and then backed away.

"Yes, Master!" Maria screamed in ecstasy. "YES! Oh, I am _so_ wet right now! Punish me! Punish your slave!"

"Flip no!" I shouted, backing away some more. "You're insane!"

"Master!" Maria cried out. "But! But… you tricked me! YOU TRICKED ME! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! I'M GOING TO SLICE YOU UP, PIECE BY PIECE UNTIL YOUR UNRECOGNIZEABLE! I'M GOING TO TIE YOU UP, THEN SHOVE YOUR LIMBS IN A BLENDER ONE BY ONE UNTIL THE ONLY THING LEFT IS YOUR HEAD! THEN I'LL BLEND THAT TOO! DO YOU HEAR ME? I'LL KILL YOU WHEN I GET OUT OF THIS!"

It was then that Elli burst into the room. She was breathing heavily as if she had just run a mile. Then she straightened up as she saw me in my boxers and Maria cuffed to the wall. "Well…" she said amazed. "I see you've met Maria."

"What… Where… How…. Huh?" I said. My brain had finally quit on me.

"What's going on?" Elli asked. "Mary suffers from split personality disorder. She's had this ever since she was a kid. Mary is the nice one who kind of lives in La La Land, while Maria is the bi- who is the incarnate of all the pain and suffering Mary couldn't handle. That's why Maria is into S and M. I'm sorry that you had to find out this way.

"Where did I come from? I live next door with Stu and my grandmother Ellen. We moved there to watch over Mary in case she ever reverted to Maria. How did I know Mary had changed? I heard screaming coming from in here. It was a good thing that Basil and Anna are out visiting Lillia right now. Basil and Anna are Mary's parents. Basil is also Lillia's brotherinlaw. That means Mary and Popuri are cousins. If they had been home, I don't know what Maria would have done to poor Anna."

"So… what do we do now?" I asked, having gained some brain functionality back.

"I'm got an injection here that will knock Maria out and cause her to forget the past hour. I'll take care of that while you go find your clothes."

"Okay…" I said. "That sounds good."

"Oh, and Jack?"

"Yeah, Elli?"

"Nice boxers." She winked at me.

As we separated to perform our various tasks, I heard Maria scream and shout profanities at Elli until the drug had kicked in. By that time, I had already dressed. I helped Elli get Mary out of the bracers and back into her bed. After that, I left the Library and waited outside as Elli changed Mary's clothes.

Night had already fallen long before Elli came back out. I had no idea how long Maria had me prisoner. As I sat there in the street, Elli came over and sat next to me. "Are you going to be okay?" she asked gently. "That was quite the ordeal you just went through."

"You know what?" I calmly asked. "I'd like to say 'no, I'm not'. I _really_ would! But after everything that I've _already _gone through today, I'm not really surprised. In fact, I think I understand Mary/Maria better than anyone else here."

"Why is that?" Elli asked as she wrapped her arms around mine and rested her head on my shoulder.

"When I was a boy, something happened to me that changed my life forever. I don't know what it was. I can't remember it. All I know is that it took me two years to recover from it. Mary/Maria are two different personalities in one body, two halves of a whole person."

"And you feel the same as them because you feel like one half of a whole person, is that it?" Elli said ingeniously.

"Yeah… That's right," was all I could say.

"So, is the reason why you're okay with what happened because if you let that scare you away, you'll never be able to find out about your other half?"

"Yeah… pretty much, I guess. It's either that or I've finally become just as crazy as this village."

"Well, I don't think we're crazy at all. I think we're just normal people with problems, just like everyone else. You have your problems too, which is why you're going to stay. You feel like this is _exactly_ where you belong."

I looked at Elli. "How do you know so much about me?" I inquired.

Elli didn't answer. Instead she got up and dusted herself off, before walking to her front door. "Go get some sleep Jack. You've still got a lot farming to do before you earn the right to become a member of this village. Once you learn to open up more, I'll open up more as well." And with that, she was gone.

There was nothing left for me to do except to walk home alone in the dark.


	10. Poll 1

**Poll #1**

Out Of All The Girls Jack's Met So Far, Who Do You Think He Should Hook Up With?

Karen

Elli

Popuri

May

Ann

Mary

Maria

Cast Your Votes As A Review!


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